Open

As a memoir, Open features many of the ingredients readers expect from the genre. Agassi provides an account of his rise to success, his most momentous losses and victories, and his eventual retirement. However, the book has also been widely acclaimed for transcending the typical sports biography. Critics and readers admire the author’s unflinching honesty, his depth of psychological insight, and the book’s literary quality. The memoir presents a man’s journey through life and sport while also providing a broader commentary on personal growth, identity, and the often unseen pressures of professional sports.

Critics have praised Open for subverting readers’ expectations of the genre in several ways. Carrie Battan highlights how the memoir avoids “the litany of clichés about the love of the game that’s typically espoused by professional athletes” (Battan, Carrie. “Revisiting ‘Open,’ Andre Agassi’s Classic Memoir About the Loneliness of Tennis.” The New Yorker, 6 Sep 2019). Indeed, Agassi’s frank admission that he hated tennis and the internal conflict this caused him is a core takeaway from the text. While many memoirs present a sanitized version of the author’s life, Open predominantly features Agassi’s personal and professional lows. His controversial and searingly honest revelations include his admission of using crystal methamphetamine and lying to the ATP about his failed drug test. Furthermore, the author lays bare his vulnerability and insecurity, revealing the anxiety his premature balding and subsequent hairpiece caused him.

Agassi’s memoir also undercuts the civilized reputation of tennis as a sport. Michael Mewshaw praises how the book exposes the “game’s seamy realities,” which other athletes have chosen to gloss over (Mewshaw, Michael. “Book Review: Open by Andre Agassi.” The Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2009). Agassi emphasizes the ruthless and lonely nature of the professional tennis circuit, revealing the personal resentments that often underlie professional rivalries. He also details the brutal regimen that many child tennis prodigies endure before reaching the professional circuit. His account of the Nick Bollettieri Academy highlights not only the prison-like environment but also the meager education that students received, leaving them unequipped for any other profession.

In addition, critics have pointed to the literary quality of Open, which makes it stand out among the sports memoir genre. Agassi successfully captures the intense sensations of playing professional tennis in his accounts of games. For example, the description of his match against Baghdatis uses staccato sentences to mirror the effect of a ball being struck back and forth: “We ride a seesaw, a pendulum of high-energy points. He makes a mistake. I give it back. He digs in. I dig in deeper” (19). The author’s use of figurative language, comparing the game to a seesaw or pendulum, adds to this effect, highlighting the unpredictability and fluctuations of tennis. Sam Tanenhaus likewise commends the novelistic structure and tone of Open, stating that it is “not just a first-rate sports memoir but a genuine bildungsroman, darkly funny yet also anguished and soulful” (Tanenhaus, Sam. “Andre Agassi’s Hate of the Game.” The New York Times, 20 Nov 2009). Several critics suggest that Agassi’s collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J. R. Moehringer contributed to the memoir’s fine quality.