Open

by Andre Agassi

Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It’s your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you’re not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back.

Kitchen sink

I’ll have to beat the younger version of myself if I am to keep the older version going.

Beat younger version

Control what you can control.

Control

What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave.

Bravery

thirty-six feet by seventy-eight feet, the dimensions of a tennis court.

Diamensions of tennis court

Qué lindo es soñar despierto,

Dream while you’re awake,

Dream

I can’t promise you that you won’t be tired, he says. But please know this. There’s a lot of good waiting for you on the other side of tired. Get yourself tired, Andre. That’s where you’re going to know yourself. On the other side of tired.

Tired

A win doesn’t feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn’t last as long as the bad. Not even close.

Win lose

fame is a force. It’s unstoppable.

Fame

Fears are like gateway drugs,

Fears

You know everything you need to know about people when you see their faces at the moments of your greatest triumph.

Triumph

Pride is bad, stress is good.

Pride

The idea of losing scares me, and the thought of winning scares me nearly as much.

Redemption

The same court on which you suffer your bloodiest defeat can become the scene of your sweetest triumph.

Sweetest triumph