What the Las Vegan did in the two years after is probably the most inspiring, though not best documented, part of the story.
At world number 141, he had become irrelevant to tennis.
Even in these tough times Agassi refused to take any favours. He was down to playing Challengers to improve his ranking but not once accepted wild cards from benevolent tournament organisers. After throwing away all he had achieved, he was ready to fight this battle alone. At 27, he started his career from scratch.
'At that stage,' says Agassi, 'the choice was either to quit or change. There was something inside of me that felt I had something more to give. I came to embrace the challenge, and found a whole new appreciation for what tennis was. That's when I started choosing to play the game for myself.'
He emerged from these challenges a better player, a better athlete, a matured and humbler person.
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