Andre Agassi 60 Minutes Interview

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, the newsmagazine show, 60 Minutes aired the exclusive interview between retired tennis star, Andre Agassi and Katie Couric. Andre's biography, "Open" hit the book stores last week. It has been revealed in the book by Andre in 1997 and 1998, he took crystal meth. Apparently, Andre had tested positive for the drug during a routine drug test that is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which is the governing body for the pro mens tennis circuit. Agassi was brutally honest in his disclosure about how he lied to ATP officials about how he came in contact with crystal meth.

I've been a fan of pro tennis for 40 years. I've watched the rise of many tennis legends careers which include Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker and many other talented and fine players. Realizing that no one is perfect, it was very bold of Andre to come out after all these years to discuss his drug use. A really sad part of the Agassi/Couric interview was the disclosure by Andre as to how much he hated tennis. I sense it was his father's idea and he wanted his son to become a successful tennis player and to be number one (1) in the world. Andre achieved that, however, the feeling was bittersweet. He [Andre] credits the turn around in his life after his divorce from model and actress Brooke Shields to his relationship and subsquent marriage to fellow tennis player [and former world #1] Steffi Graf.

I thought that Katie Couric could had done a better job with the interview considering her journalistic skills from being on the Today Show and current anchor of the CBS Evening News. All Katie did was lob one "softball question" after the other and in some sequences, acted a bit like a giggly school girl.

With all revelations, the talk about Andre's hair and his weave, the bombshells that were dropped, I still admire Andre Agassi and miss seeing him compete on a tennis court. However, he has moved on with his life with his charity work and his remarkable and wonderful Charter School in Las Vegas, Nevada.