Open

As a memoir, Open features many of the ingredients readers expect from the genre. Agassi provides an account of his rise to success, his most momentous losses and victories, and his eventual retirement. However, the book has also been widely acclaimed for transcending the typical sports biography. Critics and readers admire the author’s unflinching honesty, his depth of psychological insight, and the book’s literary quality. The memoir presents a man’s journey through life and sport while also providing a broader commentary on personal growth, identity, and the often unseen pressures of professional sports.

Critics have praised Open for subverting readers’ expectations of the genre in several ways. Carrie Battan highlights how the memoir avoids “the litany of clichés about the love of the game that’s typically espoused by professional athletes” (Battan, Carrie. “Revisiting ‘Open,’ Andre Agassi’s Classic Memoir About the Loneliness of Tennis.” The New Yorker, 6 Sep 2019). Indeed, Agassi’s frank admission that he hated tennis and the internal conflict this caused him is a core takeaway from the text. While many memoirs present a sanitized version of the author’s life, Open predominantly features Agassi’s personal and professional lows.