A video is doing the rounds on YouTube that shows a bare-chested Andre Agassi practising tennis. The video was shared by an Agassi fan, who goes by the username MrJonswift200 stories. The hazy clip was from 1993, showing Agassi hitting some stunning shots at the Nick Bollettieri Academy.
Bollettieri was Agassi’s coach for 10 years from 1983-1993, and he often spent time at his Academy, which was later renamed IMG Academy. As Agassi was practising his shots, a little girl walked past him in a brief moment in the clip. Interestingly enough, that small girl grew up to be a tennis sensation as well.
The Nick Bollettieri Academy is present in Florida, USA; also home to Coco Gauff and her childhood Pompey Parks of Delray Beach. The Pompey Parks are where the USTA has started its US Open Legacy initiative. When Agassi was training in the Academy, Nick Bollettieri was also training several other tennis players as well. One of them was a very, very young Anna Kournikova.
As the little girl walked by, fans were quick to notice that it was indeed Kournikova. Kournikova, now 42 years old, started training under Nick Bollettieri from age 10. That is when she moved to Bradenton, Florida from her hometown of Moscow, Russia.
Given that Agassi was practicing on, what looked like a clay court, the video was presumably from before the 1993 French Open. However, Agassi was notably missing from the 1993 French Open players’ list. Also standing on the court, watching Agassi practice from the sidelines, was a woman whose face wasn’t visible.
Fans presume that it was Agassi’s then-girlfriend, Hollywood singer-actor icon Barbara Streisand. Agassi and Streisand dated briefly from 1992 to 1993 before he married Brooke Shields. The latter ended in a costly divorce for him.
Andre Agassi and Nick Bollettieri had a very strong bond, winning one Grand Slam together
Agassi trained under Nick Bollettieri from 1983-1993. Bollittiere was Agassi’s coach from when the tennis star was 13 years old. Bollittieri was Agassi’s first professional coach, as Agassi was trained by his father Emmanuel Agassi from his infant age.
Bollittieri helped Agassi win 19 ATP titles (out of 60) till 1993, including one Grand Slam. The Grand Slam was the 1992 Wimbledon Championships, which remains the only Wimbledon tutle Agassi won in his career.
As reported by COURTS, Bollittieri was so impressed by Agassi’s approach to tennis from a young age, that he refused to take any fees to coach him. He told Agassi’s dad, that he doesn’t need any money to coach him. This elated Emmanuel Agassi, who was barely living by and found it hard to afford training for his son. Ever since then the bond between the two has been extremely strong. Bollittieri also coached famous players like Monica Seles, Jim Courier, and Mary Pierce among others.
Agassi’s ‘rockstar’ look, with a mullet on his head, was also something of a scene-stopper in tennis back then. His was the look of a ‘rockstar’ in the tennis circuit, something no one else has been able to match ever since. In his 50s now, Agassi still has a super fit body and is rocking the bald look whenever he appears in public.
