Il bambino che non sapeva dire di no

OPEN - La vera storia  di Andre Agassi

scritto con JR Moheringer (giornalista e scrittore, Premio Pulitzer)

A cinque anni è costretto a colpire 2.500 palle al giorno, 17.500 alla settimana, quasi un milione all'anno. Suo padre ha costruito uno speciale sparapalle, che Andre chiama "il drago". Spara al doppio della velocità degli altri e non si ferma mai. Niente scuola, niente amici, niente di niente. Poi sangue, sudore, solitudine, droga e matrimonio sbagliato. Ma anche un talento naturale (che i suoi fratelli, sottoposti allo stesso trattamento, non avevano), l'incontro con Gil Reyes (preparatore/padre surrogato) e soprattutto quello con Steffi (Graf).

"It's no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love, the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it's all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It's our choice.”

"Only boxers can understand the loneliness of tennis players - and yet boxers have their corner men and managers. Even a boxer's opponent provides a kind of companionship, someone he can grapple with and grunt at. In tennis you stand face-to-face with the enemy, trade blows with him, but never touch him or talk to him, or anyone else. The rules forbid a tennis player from even talking to his coach while on the court. People sometimes mention the track-and-field runner as a comparably lonely figure, but I have to laugh. At least the runner can feel and smell his opponents. They're inches away. In tennis you're on an island. Of all the games men and women play, tennis is the closest to solitary confinement....”

Il bambino A piange.

C'è un lieto fine, però.

Nella gallery fotografica della scuola che Agassi ha fondato e finanzia, in uno dei quartieri più poveri di Las Vegas,  non si vedono campi da tennis. E i figli di questi due ex-bambini prodigio saranno cresciuti in modo diverso.

"Jaden loves baseball and happens to be pretty good at it," Agassi said. "I have no idea what he should be doing or not doing. I just take him and help him as much as I can."

l'intervista su foxsports.com.