High Life Issue #5

HIGH LIFE #5 February 2017 21 “So I really found myself focussing, as a result of my own lack of education and lack of choice, on using my platform to change the world around me on some level. Once I did that I started to find a lot more joy and connection in what I did.” Agassi describes his philanthropy as the reason he gets up in the morning, saying, “I feel more efficient now, I feel more balanced, I feel more energy towards my outlets.” But his own journey to self-fulfilment was far from a smooth one. Masking his own inner demons as a youngster behind a flash of color and long, flowing locks, Agassi quickly rose to the top of world tennis with his breakthrough Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon in 1992 followed by the US Open title in 1994 and Australian Open in 1995. However, when the personal issues he’d long kept hidden finally caught up with him, his life derailed both on and off the tennis court. It was during this period that Agassi – whose ranking fell from top of the tree to as low as number 141 in the world – finally discovered his true calling. “Ifyou askedme to lookback atmygreatest achievement, it would have to be the journey I went on which was reaching number one, falling out of sorts with the game and myself, dropping down to 141 and then getting back to a day-by-day, goal-oriented process that ended upwithme back at the top,” explains Agassi, who not only won another five Grand Slams upon his return but became just the second man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles when he claimed the French Open in 1999. “More importantly, I did so at a time in my life when I could enjoy not only being there but every step along the way. That’s what I’m most proud of. “Andmy entire lifewas all sort of tied into themicrocosm of winning that French Open. “My French Open win was by far the most profound and powerful in my life because it came at a certain time. It was the last one of the grand slams for me to win, the odds were stacked against me from start to finish. Even in the final I was down two sets to love and had to figure out a way to come back. That moment really embodied the journey of my life.” Having seen the good, the bad and the ugly of the professional sporting world, Agassi tends to focus much more these days on the people he is with. From a professional standpoint, that means choosing his allies carefully and he can’t speak highly enough of companies such as Swiss luxury watchmaker Longines, who he first linked with nine years ago. AGASSI DURING HIS EARLY YEARS