Houston Round-Table Interview -- Andre Agassi
Houston Round Table:
Andre Agassi
Below is a partial transcript of Andre Agassi's round-table media
conference at Tennis Masters Cup Houston on Sunday.
Q: Could you sum up a little bit your tennis schedule since the US Open;
how did you prepare?
A: Well, I've just been training. But, obviously, not competing. So the
competing is an important element to it, needless to say. But there's
also an upside to it. I finally feel good again with my body. I feel
like I'm in great shape. I've been practicing really well. So now it's
about getting out there and throwing yourself in the fire and hoping
everything comes together in a very quick period of time.
Q: Are you in a place in your conditioning where you appreciate the pain,
or is it just... Could you talk about that?
A: I think there's always going to be a certain amount of sacrifice
involved any time you push yourself to cross boundaries. But there's a
couple of crimes in training. There's a crime of sort of having such
commitment and desire and running yourself into a wall, and having it
sort of come back to bite you in the backside.
The other crime is that you have such desire to sort of strive and to
make gains, but the program itself doesn't allow you to accomplish that.
Q: You talked about trying to come back, get back here at this time of
the year. How important is it to be here and how about the change
that's happened here basically since you left?
A:Yeah, this is incredible to see what Mac and Linda have built, what
they have created. To see what they give to tennis. This is a great place
to be. You get the best players in the world together. It doesn't matter
sort of where you play them, you're gonna have a great event because of
the competition and the quality of play.
But you stick them in sort of an arena like this, that is that nice, and
then in an environment with a crowd that I have personal experience with
that is so enthusiastic, and you just get to sit back and look forward
to a pretty incredible week of entertainment.
Q: What are your thoughts on the court and stadium itself?
A: I think it's a great stadium. I looked around there, it has a great
feel to it. It's still intimate, even though it's sort of inspiring.
It's intimate. You feel like when that place is full, you're going to
have a nice connection with the people. I think it's a great size
stadium for tennis.
Q: You enjoy the Round Robin format?
A: Yeah, I do. It's a format that I think works well for the players
because it gives them a chance to really work into their game. It gives
them a chance to match up against different players. It's great for the
spectators to get to see how different players bring out different parts
of each other's game. That's all sort of part of what makes tennis so
special.
Q: Are you going to encourage your kids to get in the game?
A: Yeah, I think that's ?I think that's an accurate way to say it. I'll
encourage them to experience the game because I think there's a lot that
the game has to offer. But I do believe what you get out of the game is
what you put into it. I think that's pretty true with most areas in life.
Q: And the weakness Andre Agassi had to work on most?
A: Well, currently it's getting more sleep (laughter) at home but...
You know, it's a marathon; it's not a sprint, the tour. So it's been a
life lesson for me to learn how to treat my career as a long race; not
as a 100meter sprint.
It's a lot of times where certain results or certain performances can
leave you with a sense of urgency, and that's when I've needed to learn
how to just take a step back, figure out where I'm going to go and then
start working my plan again.
Q: Have you had time to enjoy being a dad, a new dad for the last couple
months? What's the difference the second time around?
A: Well, I've enjoyed the parts that are there to be enjoyed. I think
you get a bit of both, you know, in the first stages, things to enjoy,
things that sort of?it's also difficult, balancing the two. Introducing
a new one to a 2-year-old. Jaz is sort of a lot more calm than Jaden was.
I don't know if that's a function and a reflection of her parents now
versus two years ago. Because I think the second time around, you
realize a baby's cry (laughter).
Q: How's mom doing?
A: She's doing great. She's doing great. She is truly a great mom.
Q: How is Jaden taking to being a brother for the first time?
A: Yeah, he's doing real good. He has a great disposition, a great
spirit about him. But, apparently, now that I'm not there, he's focused
more on mom and mom doesn't quite have the same time. So it's been more
of an issue since I've been gone than the first month.
Q: Could you talk about the role of luck in tennis and sort of your
luckiest moment and your least luckiest moment.
A: Well, I mean, 17 years of moments, I don't know if I could...
Well, that's not true. I could probably pick my luckiest moment. I made
a shoelace forehand volley at 4-all down two sets to love in the third
against Medvedev in the finals of the French that drifted back and fell
inside the baseline. I could have hit that volley anywhere.
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