# Was Andre Agassi too hard on Nick Bollettieri in "Open"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408 "2010-09-11T15:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/1 "2010-09-11T15:24:13Z")
I read “Open” about 2 months ago and I really enjoyed it. However, I was stunned by the portrayal of Nick Bollettieri and his tennis camp for kids. I mean, that camp produced Monica Seles, Andre, and Jim Courier. It must have been doing something right. Andre describes it as a scam. He says that Bollettieri knew nothing about tennis and was just trying to open a school to make money. In fact, he said his Dad only heard about it by watching a 60 minutes expose about how corrupt and bad Bollettieri was. However, I see that Bollettieri is still considered a reliable source of tennis information. He’s interviewed frequently by [Tennis.com](http://Tennis.com)(tennis magazine) and has, it seems, become an expert. Did he become an expert over the last 30 years or did he know some before hand? What is the real deal on this guy? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/2 "2010-09-11T16:37:01Z")
I don’t remember Agassi calling the camp a scam, although I’ll reread that part of the book now. I see that right off the bat he says it’s “a glorified prison camp” and “Karate Kid with racquets, Lord of the Flies with forehands” and “anarchy.” And he says some mean but 100% accurate things about Bollettieri’s tan. I’ll see what I think when I’m done reading. But it’s worth keeping in mind that Agassi didn’t want to go to the center, never wanted to be there, and was miserable the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/3 "2010-09-11T17:06:13Z")
Here is Agassi’s recollection of a sitdown with Bollettieri. This comes after weeks of not speaking to him at all. > [@](#): > > You want to know what my problem is? > Even Nick is shocked by the sound of my voice. > I shout, _You_ are my fucking problem. You. And if you haven’t figured that out, you’re stupider than you look. Do you have any idea what it’s like here? What it’s like to be three thousand miles from home, living in this prison, waking up at six thirty, having thirty minutes to eat that shitty breakfast, getting on that broken-down bus, going to that lousy school for four hours, hurrying back and having thirty minutes to eat more crap before going on the tennis court, day after day after _day_? Do you? The only thing you have to look forward to, the only real fun you have every week, is Saturday night at the Bradenton Mall - and then that gets taken away! _You took that from me!_ This place is hell, and I want to burn it down! He’s 14 at this point. I can’t comment on what Bollettieri knows about tennis. **Mahaloth** is correct that he trained plenty of top players and many others who were successful pros. [Wikipedia has a list of alumni.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bollettieri_Tennis_Academy#Notable_alumni) The academy’s baseline style changed the game. He’s been criticized for training robotic players who hit hard but didn’t have much ability to construct points or strategize and were boring to watch, but that’s probably not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/4 "2010-09-11T18:44:42Z")
McEnroe has built an anti-Bollettieri tennis academy. He believes that kids shouldn’t be separated from their parents and families in order to train for a sport. It’s not just about results; it’s about the damage you inflict on kids by the loneliness and isolation combined with the constant pressure to win, win, win. So, no, I don’t think Agassi was too hard on Bollettieri or Agassi’s father. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/5 "2010-09-11T19:36:23Z")
By the way, I assume Agassi’s Dad is still alive, right? Wow, that must have been hard to read if he is. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/6 "2010-09-11T19:46:43Z")
It’d be easier to list players who\* didn’t\* go to Bollateri’s acdemy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/7 "2010-09-11T20:00:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > By the way, I assume Agassi’s Dad is still alive, right? Wow, that must have been hard to read if he is. All of this is per Andre in interviews: He hasn’t read the book and he isn’t going to.Mike Agassi is 80 and says if he had to do it all over again, he’d have done it the same way except he might’ve trained Andre to play baseball or another sport where you can have a longer career - but he would have been the same kind of father. He’s turned the Dragon into a pitching machine for Andre’s son Jaden. I assume it only gets used occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/8 "2010-09-11T20:10:59Z")
[quote=“Marley23, post:7, topic:553408”] > [@Mahaloth](#): > > He’s turned the Dragon into a pitching machine for Andre’s son Jaden. I assume it only gets used occasionally. Very occasionally…and probably only with Andre there to supervise. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/9 "2010-09-11T20:11:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > By the way, I assume Agassi’s Dad is still alive, right? Wow, that must have been hard to read if he is. > > All of this is per Andre in interviews: He hasn’t read the book and he isn’t going to.Mike Agassi is 80 and says if he had to do it all over again, he’d have done it the same way except he might’ve trained Andre to play baseball or another sport where you can have a longer career - but he would have been the same kind of father. He’s turned the Dragon into a pitching machine for Andre’s son Jaden. I assume it only gets used occasionally. Here is the [interview](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OvR8_NMAmU). It appears Agassi’s relationship with his dad is OK which is good to know. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/10 "2010-09-12T19:13:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > By the way, I assume Agassi’s Dad is still alive, right? Wow, that must have been hard to read if he is. Today, Andre gets along with his Dad pretty well, surprisingly. He says he asked his Dad whether he’d read the book. HE says his Dad scoffed, “I was THERE, what do I need to read about it for?” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-andre-agassi-too-hard-on-nick-bollettieri-in-open/553408/11 "2010-09-12T19:54:49Z")
Glad to hear that Andre gets along with his Dad. What about with Nick Bollettieri?