There is a saying that the making of a champion starts from childhood.  This is true in the case of Andre Agassi who has displayed a strong inclination to the sport of tennis since he was 3 years old.

At the age of 5, he was someone with a special talent compared to the children of his age.  His recorded videotapes showed him hitting the ball hard overhead in an excellent backhand at the age of 5.

Andre Agassi started his career in 1986 and always won the first set but often ended to lose in 3 or 5 sets.  He was observed to have weak physical and mental stamina to endure a long tennis play.  He played fantastically in the tennis court but he also lost many times because he was in bad mood.

But as he grew older, he realized his errors in playing and soon, he played well and improved his style and behavior.  At the age of 18, he won 6 titles and became No. 3 in the world record.  He was the favorite player of the audience whenever he played in court due to his good looks and smart performance.

But he lost many games in the Grand Slam and the U.S. Open.  However, he was firm in winning other games and did not allow his frequent loses to ruin his determination to succeed, ‘though he considered those as his major setbacks.

He had to undergo a wrist surgery in 1993 but still survived 3 rounds of win in the 1994 U.S. Open using his amazing tennis strokes.  After winning 7 titles in 11 finals, he became the No. 1 tennis player in 1995 world ranking.

In 1997, Agassi had a serious personal problem that destroyed his professional career.  His world ranking plunged to 141st from No. 1.

This was the time of his turbulent marriage with his former wife, Brook Shields, when it seemed that he could no longer recover from the crisis.  But the marriage did not lead to separation until after 2 years, thus, Agassi realized that he was too young to abandon his chosen career and there was no reason to dwell on this major setback in his personal life.

Soon, he came back to the arena completely polished and recharged.  He humbled himself by playing in challenger events.  Soon, he made a good comeback and hit it to win all 4 Grand Slam titles.  But he started losing again and his worst defeat was against Peter Sampras in 2001.

What are the lessons that Andre Agassi gained from his ups and downs in the world of tennis?

In his early stints, he didn’t allow his early loses to become a major setback in his rising career.  He didn’t believe in numbers and he dismissed comments and speculations.  He only believed in what he can do and he didn’t give attention to criticisms.  This enabled him to have a good comeback.

There other significant lessons he learned in his ups and downs in tennis which are worth researching.