Andre Agassi contradicts his famous “Open” cutout in conversation with Jannik Sinner for an Italian coffee brand

Andre Agassi has been all over the media in the lead-up to the 2024 US Open, making appearances and getting fans excited about the action. One of his most recent appearances was with Lavazza, where he played a few shots with tennis star Jannik Sinner. Interestingly, while Sinner and Agassi discussed a variety of topics, the American legend agreed that “passion and pleasure” was the reason he started playing tennis.

During their conversation, it was Agassi who asked Sinner about his motivation for playing tennis. The world number one summed up his answer with the two Ps and Agassi agreed to end his answer with the following sentence: “After all, we are only human.” Afterwards, the two had some coffee together.

But here's where it gets interesting. If you've read Agassi's autobiography Openthen you know that he famously admitted to hating tennis. In the book, he talked about how he never really wanted to pursue the sport professionally, but was pushed into it by his father. An excerpt read:

“I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, because of a dark, secret passion, and always have.”

This led to Agassi battling many inner demons, including a struggle with substance abuse as he was unable to cope with the pressures of the tennis world. His comments have sparked some debate on the Internet.

Sinner is increasingly being compared to Agassi – but not for the reasons you might expect. It's because of their involvement in doping cases, even though the circumstances were completely different.

Agassi's problems were very much linked to his personal problems and the enormous pressure he had been under since a young age. Sinner's situation, on the other hand, seems to be a coincidence, given the ruling that provisionally suspended him for only 6 days this year.

Perhaps Lavazza chose the wrong time for its advert, although the cast of stars was remarkably good. With anger over the Sinner verdict showing no sign of abating, the advert was met with derision rather than appreciation.

Nevertheless, after many years, Agassi seems to have made peace with himself and therefore with tennis. His performances at the 2024 US Open will be something that fans will look forward to. On the other hand, Sinner has a lot to prove during the tournament and he would rather let his tennis speak for itself after this ad is over.