'Every morning I would get up and find another piece of my identity on the pillow'
Agassi said he wore a hairpiece held together with pins in his first Grand Slam final, the 1990 French Open final, and blamed his concerns that it would fall apart for losing the match to Andres Gomez.
"Every morning I would get up and find another piece of my identity on the pillow, in the wash basin, down the plughole," Agassi wrote of his disappearing natural hair.
"I asked myself: you want to wear a toupee? On the tennis court? I answered myself; what else could I do?" After shampooing the rug the night before the final, it started to fall apart, with the young player more worried about that disaster than what might happen on court.
With the help of his brother, Phil, the pair made repairs to the wig and Agassi took to the clay looking every inch the young rebel he was meant to portray.
"During the warming-up training before play I prayed. Not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off."
He said he started to wear a wig to disguise hair loss.
"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."
It was actress Brooke Shields, who he later married, who persuaded him to cut off all his remaining hair.
In previous excerpts, Agassi admitted he had used the drug crystal methamphetamine (tik) in 1997.
Loading...
Read all 1 comments