Mike Agassi creates 'the dragon' ball machine and forces young Andre to hit 2,500 balls daily to become a tennis champion.

Mike sends Andre to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida; Nick agrees to coach Andre for free after recognizing his talent.

Andre uses a giant stuffed panda to negotiate tournament wild cards and exemption from school attendance with Nick.

Andre turns professional at age 16 with no other options, signing a lucrative Nike sponsorship deal with Philly as his companion.

At the Louvre in Paris, Andre identifies with a painting depicting a young man burdened by others while clinging to a cliff edge.

Seventeen-year-old Andre wins his first professional tournament in Brazil, where fans treat him like a hero.

Andre appears in the Canon 'Image is Everything' advertisement, and the press uses the slogan to define his identity as a player.

Andre meets trainer Gil Reyes at the University of Nevada, who transforms his fitness and becomes a crucial father figure in his life.

Andre loses the 1990 French Open final, preoccupied throughout by fear that his deteriorating hairpiece will fall off during the match.

Andre wins the 1992 Wimbledon championship in five sets against Ivanisevic, claiming his first Grand Slam title.

Andre hires coach Brad Gilbert, who teaches him to exploit opponents' weaknesses rather than pursue perfection on the court.

Brooke persuades Andre to shave his head; he wins the 1995 Australian Open and achieves the world number-one ranking.

Andre uses crystal methamphetamine with his assistant Slim, fails an ATP drug test, and lies to the association to avoid suspension.

Andre wins the 1999 French Open, the only Grand Slam title that had previously eluded him, completing his career Grand Slam.

Andre loses to Benjamin Becker in the third round of the 2006 US Open and retires to a standing ovation from the crowd.

Andre Agassi's story begins with his domineering father Mike forcing him to train relentlessly with a high-speed ball machine, then sending him to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where his talent was recognized but his freedom further restricted. Turning professional at 16 with no other path available, Andre became famous through a Nike deal and a rebellious image the media used to define him, even as the Canon slogan made him a cultural figure. His early career was shaped by trainer Gil Reyes, who transformed his body, and a dramatic loss at the 1990 French Open final, where anxiety about his secret hairpiece cost him a Grand Slam. Winning Wimbledon in 1992 legitimized him as a champion, but true reinvention came when he hired coach Brad Gilbert, shaved his head, and reached world number one by winning the 1995 Australian Open. A dark period of substance misuse and a failed drug test threatened to end his career, but Andre recommitted and claimed his most elusive title at the 1999 French Open. His career ended at the 2006 US Open, where he retired to a standing ovation after losing in the third round.

The major milestones of Andre Agassi's tennis career.

Nine-year-old Andre wins a $500 tennis match against football star Jim Brown, a bet wagered by his ambitious father.

Philly warns Andre about their father's plan to use speed; Mike gives Andre a pill at Nationals, and Andre deliberately plays poorly.

Andre meets Perry Rogers at a Las Vegas tennis club and forms a lifelong friendship, pledging never to use substances and to do good.

Andre wears dungarees and eyeliner to a tournament; Nick publicly shames him, and Andre tries to flee the academy but is retrieved.

Andre loses in the first round of his first Wimbledon on a court nicknamed the Graveyard Court and vows never to return.

After reaching the Vermont semifinals against Ivan Lendl, Andre reads a newspaper quoting Lendl dismissing him as 'a haircut and a forehand.'

Andre wins the Davis Cup final wearing Oakley sunglasses to hide a hangover from celebrating the night before.

After winning Wimbledon, Andre calls his father, who says he should have won the fourth set, then goes silent as he cries.

Wendi breaks up with Andre during his recovery from a wrist injury, leaving him devastated and drinking at home.

Boris Becker publicly claims other players dislike Agassi; Andre vows revenge, winning 20 consecutive matches and beating Becker in the 1995 US Open semifinals.

Andre storms off the Friends filming set when Brooke is required to lick a character's hand, then smashes his trophies at home.

Andre's world ranking drops to 141st and he is cut from the Davis Cup team as his career reaches its lowest point.

Andre meets Nelson Mandela in South Africa and commits to establishing a charter school for underprivileged inner-city children in Las Vegas.

Andre defeats Baghdatis in a grueling five-set match at the 2006 US Open; afterward both players hold hands while receiving medical treatment.

A student at Andre's academy tells him the school gave him hope and purpose after his father was murdered.

Behind Agassi's public career were personal relationships and private battles that shaped the man as much as the player. From childhood—where his father's reckless betting and his brother Philly's warnings about speed pills colored his earliest competitions—to his formative friendship with Perry Rogers, Andre's inner life was built on bonds tested by pressure and ambition. His rebellious years at the Bollettieri Academy, his dismissal by Ivan Lendl as 'a haircut and a forehand,' and his Davis Cup hangover victory illustrated the gap between his public image and his private reality. The joy of winning Wimbledon was tempered when his father could only offer criticism, while personal losses including Wendi's departure and Boris Becker's public insult drove him toward both self-destruction and renewed determination. His marriage to Brooke Shields unraveled through incidents like storming off the Friends set, culminating in a career collapse to a world ranking of 141st. His recovery was sparked by meeting Nelson Mandela, and his final act on the professional stage—holding hands with Baghdatis while awaiting medical treatment—captured the humanity beneath the champion, an image echoed when a student told him the academy had saved his life.

The personal and professional moments behind the headlines.

Mike Agassi accidentally punches young Andre after mistaking him for Uncle Isar, and Andre wishes his mother would stand up to his father.

Andre gets a pink mohawk and ear piercings at the tennis academy as an act of rebellion against his controlled existence.

Andre gives his expensive tennis rackets to homeless men in Washington DC, then accepts an exhibition match to fund replacement rackets.

Pastor J.P. confronts Andre about the gap between his public rebel image and his private uncertainty about who he truly is.

Andre loses the 1990 US Open final to Pete Sampras, astonished by how dramatically his opponent's game has improved.

Andre faces Courier in the 1991 French Open final—his third consecutive Grand Slam final—and loses after abandoning the effort in the fifth set.

Andre enters the 1994 US Open unseeded and wins the tournament, defeating Michael Stich in the final to reclaim his status as champion.

After open heart surgery, Mike Agassi writes from his hospital bed that Andre should have targeted Sampras's backhand during their match.

Perry calls Andre to announce he has achieved the world number-one ranking; Andre tells Perry he is pleased but feels absolutely nothing.

Andre proposes to Brooke in Hawaii despite deep misgivings, and they marry in a Monterey church ceremony surrounded by hovering paparazzi helicopters.

Andre and Brooke divorce; Andre pawns his wedding ring and donates the proceeds to the academy in Brooke's name.

Steffi Graf reveals to Andre that she prefers her given name, Stefanie, over the name the press and her mother assigned her.

Andre and Steffi discover they share the same favorite film, Shadowlands, while staying together at a farmhouse retreat.

Mike Agassi and Steffi's father Peter Graf nearly come to blows arguing over tennis techniques and who built the better champion.

Andre and Steffi play tennis informally in the rain at a public court, with Andre calling her back to play a little longer.

This pool traces the key turning points and emotional revelations that moved Andre Agassi from a pressured, confused prodigy toward self-awareness and authenticity. His childhood experiences—his father accidentally striking him and his own small rebellions like a pink mohawk at the academy—established a pattern of powerlessness that drove his later self-discovery. Pastor J.P.'s challenge about the gap between his public image and his private uncertainty marked a crucial early awakening, while consecutive Grand Slam final defeats to Sampras and Courier revealed the depth of his motivational crisis. Wins and losses alike forced growth: the unexpected 1994 US Open victory proved he could succeed with a new mindset, while his loveless marriage to Brooke and subsequent divorce made authenticity feel urgent. His pursuit of Steffi Graf—who, like him, preferred her real name to the identity the press assigned her—led to the relationship that finally grounded him, confirmed by the discovery of a shared favorite film. The story closes as it began on a tennis court, but now Andre plays freely in the rain with Steffi, calling her back for just a little longer, at peace at last with the sport he once hated.