Author Guide · Sports Memoir
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Andre Agassi won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal, and retired after the 2006 US Open. Three years later he published Open, an autobiography that begins at that last tournament and says that he had hated tennis “with a dark and secret passion”. The book also disclosed that he had used crystal meth in 1997 and lied about a failed drug test. He wrote it with the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J. R. Moehringer. This guide covers his 1 key book, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2009–2009 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Andre Agassi has written one book: Open (2009), an autobiography written with J. R. Moehringer. It covers his childhood in Las Vegas under a demanding father, his career, his marriage to Brooke Shields and his marriage to Steffi Graf. Start there; the sections below explain how it was written and what to read next.
Where to Start with Andre Agassi
If you want his story
→ Open (2009) — the only book he has written.
If you want a sports book for readers who don’t follow tennis
→ Open (2009) — it is about a life as much as a sport.
1 Andre Agassi Book
Open
Agassi’s life from the ball machine his father built for him in Las Vegas, through eight Grand Slam titles, his marriage to Brooke Shields and his marriage to Steffi Graf. It opens at the 2006 US Open, before the last match he won, against Marcos Baghdatis. Written with J. R. Moehringer, it reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and drew attention for his admission that he used crystal meth in 1997.
How to Read Andre Agassi
There is only one book, so there is no order to follow. Open is told mostly in sequence, from early childhood to retirement, framed by his final US Open in 2006 at the start.
If you want more of the same voice, look for J. R. Moehringer’s own memoir, The Tender Bar, which Agassi admired and which shows the style he brought to Agassi’s book.
A reading path
1. Open (2009)
2. The Open audiobook edition
The years · 1970–2011
Quick facts about Andre Agassi
- Known for
- Agassi is known as one of the leading tennis players of the 1990s and as the author of a sports autobiography unusually frank about how much he disliked the sport.
- 1970
- Born in Las Vegas, Nevada
- 1992
- Wins Wimbledon, his first Grand Slam title
- 1999
- French Open completes his career Grand Slam
- 2009
- Open
- 2011
- International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Born
- 29 April 1970, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Career
- Eight Grand Slam singles titles; Olympic gold, Atlanta 1996
- Retired
- 2006, after the US Open
- Married
- Steffi Graf, in 2001
- Co-writer
- J. R. Moehringer
- Education work
- Founded the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas (2001)
The red mark is 2009: Open, the autobiography he published three years after retiring.
How Open Was Written
Open is written in the first person, starting at his final US Open in 2006 and then going back to his childhood. Much of the book concerns his relationship with his demanding father, Mike Agassi, a former Olympic boxer raised in Tehran, who built a ball machine for his son that Agassi calls “the dragon”.
Agassi wrote the book with J. R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He has said he asked Moehringer to work with him because he admired Moehringer’s memoir The Tender Bar.
The book is unusually candid for a sports memoir: it covers the hairpiece he wore in the early 1990s, his dislike of the game, his first marriage, and the 1997 drug test. Readers who don’t follow tennis often come to it for that reason.
Watch
Andre Agassi on Open
Andre Agassi talks to Waterstones in 2009 about his autobiography Open.
Frequently asked questions about Andre Agassi’s book
How many books has Andre Agassi written?
One: Open (2009), his autobiography, written with J. R. Moehringer.
What are Andre Agassi’s books in order?
There is only one: Open: An Autobiography (2009).
Where should I start with Andre Agassi?
With Open, his only book. It is told in sequence from his childhood in Las Vegas to his retirement in 2006.
What is Andre Agassi’s most famous book?
Open (2009), his autobiography, which reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and was named by Esquire among the best sports books ever written.
Did Andre Agassi write Open himself?
He wrote it with J. R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Tender Bar, whose memoir Agassi admired.
What did Andre Agassi reveal about drugs in Open?
That he used crystal meth in 1997, failed an ATP drug test, and claimed in a letter that a friend had spiked his drink, which he admits in the book was a lie. After the revelation was published in 2009, Roger Federer said he was shocked and disappointed and Marat Safin said he should lose his titles; Agassi asked for compassion in an interview on 60 Minutes.
Is Open worth reading if you’re not a tennis fan?
Many readers who don’t follow tennis read it as a book about a childhood shaped by a parent’s ambition, and about doing work you did not choose. The tennis matches are written as scenes, not statistics.
Is Open about Steffi Graf?
Partly. The later chapters describe how he courted Graf and their marriage in 2001; earlier chapters cover his first marriage, to Brooke Shields.
Has Andre Agassi written another book?
No. As of 2026 Open is his only book.
Footnotes
- Open: An Autobiography — Wikipedia
- Andre Agassi — Wikipedia
- Andre Agassi ‘Opens’ Up About Life, Tennis — NPR, 2010
- A Tennis Star Who Hates Tennis? — NPR Fresh Air, 2009
- Agassi pleads for compassion — RNZ, 6 November 2009
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“It was a period in my life where I needed help.”
— Andre Agassi, speaking to CBS about the drug use he disclosed in Open
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