Image was everything
Former tennis star Andre Agassi wore a wig held
together with pins in his first Grand Slam final, excerpts from his
autobiography have revealed.
The hairpiece - in his famous
mullet style - had fallen apart the night before the 1990 French Open
final, which Agassi lost to Andres Gomez.
Before the match he prayed "not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off", he writes in Open.
Earlier excerpts revealed his use of drug crystal methamphetamine in 1997.
The
39-year-old, who retired in 2006, admits that - in order to escape a
ban - he lied to tennis authorities that his drink had been spiked with
the highly addictive drug.
Clamped together
Further excerpts describe his distress at the hair loss which led to him wearing a hairpiece.
"Every
morning I would get up and find another piece of my identity on the
pillow, in the wash basin, down the plughole," he writes.
But
after the wig fell apart in the shower the night before the Paris
final, his brother helped him clamp it together using about 20 clips.
Agassi
writes: "Of course I could have played without my hairpiece, but what
would all the journalists have written if they knew that all the time I
was really wearing a wig?
"During the warming-up training before play I prayed. Not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off.
"With
each leap, I imagine it falling into the sand. I imagine millions of
spectators move closer to their TV sets, their eyes widening and, in
dozens of dialects and languages, ask how Andre Agassi's hair has
fallen from his head."
Agassi went on to win eight Grand Slams during his career and is one of only six men to win all four major titles.
Andre Agassi didn't lose to Andre Gomez at the French Open in 1990. He lost to his own coiffureal insecurities, he claims. This surely must be the weirdest reason to lose a Tennis match. Poor Andre Gomez must be tearing his hair in frustration.
This seems to be the modern day version of the ancient story of Sampson albeit with a few twists and turns. Agassi, like Samson, suffered due to his gradually disappearing mane. But he shaved his head voluntarily, regained his Tennis skill and power without the tresses and walked into the sunset holding hands with Steffi.
Samson, on the other hand, devoid of his locks was blinded and locked up by the Philistines. Unlike Agassi, Samson grew back his hair, regained his superhuman strength and when presented the opportunity, pulled two central pillars of the Philistine temple destroying himself and the Philistine rulers in the bargain.
Agassi was smarter. He lived in the modern world with remote controls. All he had to do was write a book and attempt to pull down the ATP edifice and make money at the same time.
Or is it an attempt to come clean on the follies of his young days? If crystal meth consumption was a one-off incident and in no way performance enhancing, does it take away the lustre of his succeding achievements? Did ATP actually give him a second chance at redemption which he duly attained?
There are no clear answers. Just another reminder that heroes dating from the ancient times have always come had feet of clay with artificial hair to match.
P.S - For those who are not so sympathetic to his pleas
Courtsey - Amul india