Andre Agassi: From tennis hater to positive team captain at the Laver Cup

Andre Agassi, 56, won the US Open, Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open anyway. The American is still considered one of the best tennis players in history. But the Agassi-tennis relationship has one flaw: "I hated this sport." That's what Agassi wrote in his biography "Open," and he also said it in a SPIEGEL interview in 2009. But now Agassi makes a completely different impression.

Agassi ended his active career in 2006 and is now in London at the Laver Cup, a match between the best tennis players in Europe and the best players from the rest of the world. Agassi serves as captain of Team World – and exudes positive energy on the bench.

Agassi said he appreciates being able to help players think strategically about their matches. “I used to always call it stress, not fun,” said Agassi. “Now it feels a little more like fun than stress.” He likes the idea of ​​being able to make a contribution: “In an environment where I can enjoy the game more than it causes me stress. I spent many years not enjoying it as much as I should have.”

"I had already told a few people that I hated tennis, really hated it, and everyone had tried to talk me out of it," Agassi told SPIEGEL in 2009: "Do you know what Stefanie answered: 'Don't we all hate it?'" The couple married in 2001. The difference between his wife and him was “that Stefanie wanted to play tennis, it was her decision; I didn't want to play and I had to. It was the wrong life, it wasn’t mine.”