36*78 feet

Yup that’s the size of a tennis court.
Just got done with an amazing book Open, autobiography of Andre Agassi.
Must tell you the book was damn addictive.
I really loved the simple, candid and honest writing style of Agassi.
He did full justice to the title of the book. Wanted to take everybody through the book through this post but I would rather suggest people to read it. Though would like to share couple of points which I have noted down for myself.

1. Pressure is how you know everything is Working

2. Control what you can Control (I fell in love with this)

3. What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave

4. At different stages I sip different versions, each a different colour. Pink for energy, red for recovery, brown for replenishment.

5. Stefanie kisses me and says nothing, because there’s nothing to say.
(Most intimate line I’ve ever read)

6. I’m calmed, grounded, inspired by watching a craftsman. It reminds me of the singular importance. in this world of a job done well.
(Respect for everybody’s work, we sure have things to learn from everybody we meet)

7. His inability to remain impartial is endlessly charming. (His father!)

8. My memory isn’t like my tennis bag; I have no say over its contents.

9. My pugnacious bride. She tries a smile but it ends up a wince. I see in her face everything she wants to say but will not let herself say. I hear every word she refuses to utter. (Love)

10. I let him think the crowd is cheering for both of us.
(For his opponent in his Last match. Confidence!)

11. Desperation the most powerful drug.

12. He hates me, and I hate him, and now we’re sneering and snarling and trying to wrest this thing from each other.(Respect)

13. That’s the definition of being rich: it doesn’t cross your mind to mention it to your best friend. And money is such a given you don’t care how you come by it.(Friendship)

14. Andre and you’ve made yours. I guess that leaves me on my own.(Friendship)

15. My father doesn’t want to limit me, or break me, or ruin me. So he’s banishing me. He’s sending me away, partly to protect me from himself.(Love)

16. He’s always been there, at my back, and now he won’t be. I feel abandoned. I thought the one thing I wanted was to be free of him, and now that he’s sending me away, I’m heartbroken.
(When he was finally going away from his father whom he always hated for making him work so much)

17. My father drives me to the airport. My mother wants to go but can’t miss a day of work.
(Responsibility!, when his mother was not even sure if he will come back in near future)

18. A win doesn’t feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn’t last as long as the bad. Not even close.

19. You always try to be perfect, he says, and you always fall short, and it fucks with your head. Your confidence is shot, and perfectionism is the reason. You try to hit a winner on
Every ball, when just being steady, consistent, meat and potatoes, would be enough to win.Ninety percent of the time. You don’t have to be the best in the world every time you go out there. You just have to be better than one guy. Instead of you succeeding, make him fail.You’re making everyone around you miserable. You’re making yourself miserable. Perfection? There’s about five times a year you wake up perfect, when you can’t lose to anybody, but it’s not those five times a year that make a tennis player. Or a human being, for that matter. It’s the other times. It’s all about your head, man. With your talent, if you’re fifty percent game-wise, but ninety-five percent headwise, you’re going to win. But if you’re ninety-five percent game-wise and fifty percent headwise, you’re going to lose, lose, lose.
(Perfectionism is tiring and unnecessary all the time! His coach whom he met for the first time giving opinion on his game)

22. This contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.(The biggest question )

23. Thinking, my father believes, is the source of all bad things, because thinking is the opposite of doing.

24. I loved the concept of hard work leading to sweet rewards—except when hard work meant hitting tennis balls.

25. When you know that you just took the other guy’s best punch, and you’re still standing, and the other guy knows it, you will rip the heart right out of him.(Blister on an opponent’s mind)

26. The whole place looks a lot better from a distance. What doesn’t?

27. No. Absolutely not. Help from him comes with a cost. I’m trying to break free of him.
(Dilemma to ask for help from his father)

28. To be inspired, I tell Philly—that’s the secret.

29. I don’t know. But you will. This is a momentary crisis, Andre. One of many. As sure as we’re sitting here, there will be others. Bigger, smaller, and everything in between. Treat this crisis as practice for the next crisis.(Words of Wisdom, nothing we experience goes waste, even crisis)

30. I learn about myself, create myself, through imitation. How else could I do it? (Honesty, we choose to make ourselves)

31. I’m astonished by how much they care. I’m astonished by how much I care that they get it right.(Honesty, on media)

32. How beautiful to dream. But dreams, I tell Gil, in one of our quiet moments, are so damned tiring.

33. She fixes delicious meals at night, and in the morning she packs box lunches for me to bring to the practice courts.

34. It’s not selfishness on her part, just a mistaken impression that winning is normal, losing is abnormal.(Both are normal)

35. Pride is bad, stress is good. I don’t want to feel confident. I want to feel rage. Endless, all-consuming rage.(Summer of Revenge)

36. In the long, losing struggle with myself, I’m tanking.(Incessant altercation with your own self)

37. This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others

38. Love is how we grow up.

39. Decisions, especially bad ones, create their own kind of momentum, and momentum can be a bitch to stop, as every athlete knows. The minds of the everlasting gods are not changed suddenly.(To master our Momentum is all that is required)

40. It’s embarrassing, but necessary, because I don’t want to lose her, I’ve had enough losing, and I know if I’m honest she’ll give me a second chance.(Confession)

41. She says that she’s sorry I’m suffering, but she can’t solve it. She can’t fix me. I need to fix myself. By myself.(Realisation)

42. If you’re heartbroken, Gil says, don’t hide from it. Wallow in it. We hurt, he says, so let’s hurt.