Tennis greats are never born, only made. While modern greats Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have set new records in terms of Grand Slam victories, other legends came before them. We have already featured Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in this series, three men who redefined the sporting focus tennis enjoyed.

Between those greats retiring and the current ‘Holy Trinity’ taking over the mantle as greats who would sweep all before them, however, there was a fantastic yet often overlooked period of tennis, dominated by three Americans – Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier. Between then, the trio won an incredible 18 Grand Slam titles. We’ve already written on the power and majesty of ‘Pistol’ Pete Sampras. We continue our look at these understated trendsetters with an indulgence in Andre Agassi bizarre, often frustrating, but ultimately fairytale career.

Of the three American sharpshooters we’re featuring in this series of articles, Andre Agassi’s career is one that almost defies narrative, so broken was the path of his career.

The young Andre Agassi was a fantastic tennis player as a child, winning from the age of 12 pretty consistently. When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bolleteri’s Florida-based tennis academy, refused to take money for him, he was that good, stating, “Take your check back. He’s here for free.”