Dark Side of the 90's S3 Episode 8 - Agassi & 90's Tennis Prodigies
Dark Side of the 90's Season 3 Episode 8
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00:00In the 90s, professional tennis gets a shot of adrenaline from a new generation of players.
00:14Skill and style goes up, while the on-court etiquette goes down.
00:20And endorsement deals go through the roof.
00:24That helped grow the game of tennis.
00:25But as their celebrity increases, and their emotional well-being decreases, the game will
00:44cause some players everything.
00:47Stabbing Lenny was one of the most alarming episodes in tennis.
01:14For decades, tennis was a stodgy country club sport, where the color of the clothes and the
01:21players were the same. White. You could say that tennis started incredibly elitist,
01:28or exclusionary, depending on what term you want to use.
01:34And then the 90s gave us an explosion in so many different realms of the sport, all at the same
01:42time. Prodigies like Andre Agassi, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, and the Williams sisters
01:54inject new life into the game, attracting bigger audiences than ever before.
02:00They'll emerge as the rock stars of tennis. But just like rock stars,
02:05some players will burn out before they have a chance to fade away.
02:10It's all different. Everyone's got a different story. And the controversial stories,
02:14the horror stories, are really about the prodigies.
02:16My name is Pete Bodo, and in the 1990s, I was a tennis journalist out there traveling the world
02:21and getting to know a lot of professional tennis players.
02:30While tennis in the 80s had its rivalries and its bad boys,
02:40players reached new levels of celebrity in the 90s,
02:43as TV begins focusing as much on their personalities as they do on their matches.
02:49In a sport like tennis, one of the things that's important is the way that we see them.
02:55We can see the temper tantrums and hear them differently.
03:02My name is Courtney Cox. I'm a former ESPN employee and current scholar,
03:07looking at all things sport as it relates to tech and culture.
03:11We can understand these athletes as personalities differently,
03:14and then this building of superstars, the up-and-coming, the Cinderella's.
03:20And who better to be labeled as Cinderella than a player with long,
03:24flowing hair named Andre Agassi?
03:27Andre Agassi is probably the most interesting personality study in tennis.
03:32Born in Las Vegas, Andre is forced into tennis as a toddler by his father, Mike,
03:37a one-time Iranian Olympic boxer turned casino ambassador for the Tropicana Hotel.
03:44Andre, how do you like tennis?
03:46Fine.
03:47Do you want to be a tennis player when you get big?
03:49Yes.
03:52According to Andre, his dad is so determined for his 12-year-old son to become a star player
03:57that he administers amphetamines to make Andre more focused during junior matches.
04:05Very few of the really successful players are people who are really forced to play.
04:09Andre Agassi is a pretty good exception to that rule.
04:13Yeah, Andre Agassi, he's a phenomenon, right?
04:17Jeff Tarango here, top hundred in the world for 13 straight years.
04:22Can you call the supervisor, please? I have a big beef.
04:24Enjoying my life in tennis, after tennis, during tennis, tennis for a lifetime.
04:29Tarango recalls playing against a pre-amphetamine Agassi on the junior circuit,
04:34including one match that Agassi writes about in his autobiography, Open.
04:40Andre Agassi versus Tarango in the ten and unders in San Diego question.
04:47Agassi accuses Tarango of cheating over whether a ball was in or out.
04:51There was a USTA umpire sitting right there in the chair,
04:55so there's no way he could say I cheated him out of the match.
04:58But his dad's in the RV, banging on it, like getting all upset and everything,
05:03and Andre's crying, and so he leaves, and he thinks I cheated him out of the match,
05:07but it actually had nothing to do with me.
05:12At 13, Andre shipped off to a tennis academy in Florida, run by Nick Bollettieri.
05:17Nick Bollettieri came into tennis literally out of the sky.
05:20He was a former paratrooper who ended up then becoming kind of a tennis teacher,
05:24and he had a string of little camps and gigs that he ultimately turned into a coaching profession
05:30because he was unrelentingly optimistic, unrelentingly promotional,
05:35including self-promotional, which rubbed people in the wrong way.
05:39Andre would not be who he was today without Nick.
05:41To me, Nick Bollettieri was the epitome of motivation.
05:46You want to hit the one, two, three, four, and then go forward.
05:50When he walked onto the court, you just felt like you were a better tennis player.
05:54You felt like you could run faster.
05:56You felt like you could do everything better.
06:00Bollettieri will also coach Grand Slam champion Boris Becker,
06:04as well as Jim Curry, who will also be coached by Nick Bollettieri.
06:07Every single player that went to Bollettieri Tennis Academy told me,
06:11when he's not on my court, I don't play half as well.
06:14Even me, who he never coached, when he would come to watch the match,
06:19I would play at a different level.
06:24But when Agassi begins working with Bollettieri,
06:26he's in complete rebellion against tennis.
06:29Sporting a mohawk, a tennis racket, and a tennis racket.
06:33He's in complete rebellion against tennis.
06:36Sporting a mohawk, experimenting with booze,
06:39and refusing to wear tennis clothes to his matches.
06:44Agassi pays the price for his defiance
06:47when he's forced to clean the Academy's communal toilets as punishment.
06:52But according to Jeff Tarango,
06:53Bollettieri has to go one step further to set the prodigy straight.
06:58Andre showed up to a tennis tournament with Levi jeans on,
07:02and they got into a bit of a spatter.
07:07And he said, I need to discipline this kid.
07:09And Nick locked him in a bus for a whole week in 100 degree weather.
07:18I guess that was OK in the early 90s.
07:21You're not going to get away with it now.
07:23But he like an epiphany in this bus.
07:25And when Andre came out of that bus, he was a different human being.
07:29He went from the rebel to be, I'm going to do whatever you say.
07:36I get it now.
07:37I think Nick Bollettieri did it right with Andre.
07:41I mean, he tortured the guy, and he showed him that,
07:45you know, you're not a talent until you're actually a talent.
07:48In 1986, 16-year-old Agassi turns pro.
07:52Nike quickly signs the tennis rebel
07:55and starts changing the culture of the sport
07:57by featuring Andre in some of their biggest ads.
08:02Andre Agassi was their poster child,
08:04literally challenging the style of the all-white country club look
08:10that was a part of tennis for decades and decades
08:14with bright neon colors, whether it's on apparel or on shoes.
08:19I'm Tim Newcomb,
08:21and I'm a freelance journalist covering tennis gear and business.
08:24Any time that an athlete wants to push the envelope, Nike's there to do it.
08:29Just like they did back in 1984 with Andre's precursor, John McEnroe.
08:35John McEnroe had the Mac Attack shoe that he wore in the mid-'80s.
08:41Nike releases the Mac Attack a year before it launches the Air Jordan,
08:46but then tennis players have had shoes named after them
08:48long before Michael Jordan is even born.
08:51That's where it all began.
08:54I think Jordan jumped on our bandwagon as far as how to sell things,
08:59and then all of a sudden he's doing it in basketball.
09:02Using Agassi, Nike transforms their business model,
09:05selling not just sports gear, but the players who wear it.
09:08It wasn't just about tennis anymore.
09:10It was about Nike.
09:12It was about Adidas.
09:13It was about everybody building a brand all of a sudden,
09:18but the players were the brand.
09:20Everything's for sale on a player's body,
09:22so I'm waiting for the day when somebody gets a tattoo,
09:25a sponsored tattoo on his forehead,
09:27to buy a certain brand of ice cream or something.
09:32Agassi's endorsement deals help him attract admirers
09:35who once had little interest in professional tennis.
09:38Did you get what you came for?
09:40Definitely.
09:40What did you come for?
09:41A look of Agassi.
09:44We like his tennis, but we also like to look at him.
09:47So what's the attraction?
09:49His hair.
09:49Oh no, I don't like hair.
09:52What is the image of a rebel?
09:53But the marketing of Agassi also sparks outrage
09:56among the tennis media and more traditional tennis fans.
10:00Image is everything.
10:02Andre Agassi had critics.
10:04Is it style over substance?
10:06And really, in sports, generally the only way
10:09that you're able to quiet those critics is by winning.
10:14In not just any tennis tournament,
10:16but one of the four prestigious Grand Slam titles.
10:20Until he wins one of those, he remains an easy target.
10:24To me, that whole Image is Everything campaign
10:27was so misinterpreted and so misused and abused
10:32against Andre that it really, really wasn't anywhere near fair.
10:37He went against everything that tennis represented.
10:40The dyeing of the hair, the earring, like George Michael.
10:44It made it interesting.
10:45I kind of enjoyed it.
10:47It was something different.
10:48People hated it, but I could appreciate it.
10:51I'm Lori McNeil, former WTA number eight in the world
10:55in singles and number three in doubles.
10:57I think Agassi brought that entertainment value
11:00that people were looking for.
11:01He was kind of bucking the tennis establishment.
11:05Agassi really was the only one
11:06that was really being different in that way.
11:09But in the 90s, Lori's focus isn't on Agassi.
11:13It's on Steffi Graf, the player to beat on the women's tour.
11:18The 1990s in women's tennis was dominated by Steffi Graf.
11:24She was the player of the decade.
11:31Lori upset Steffi twice during the decade.
11:35Once in the first round,
11:36Unfortunately, I lost in the semis,
11:38and I didn't win the whole tournament in Wimbledon,
11:40but it was a good run, as they say.
11:45And Lori isn't the only player
11:47gunning for Graf's number one spot.
11:50And Monica Seles, age 16,
11:53has one point from becoming the youngest champion
11:57in French Open history.
12:00In 1990, the teenager got her first gold medal
12:04in the women's singles tournament.
12:06And she does just that,
12:10winning her first Grand Slam event.
12:16On the women's side, I would say Seles
12:20was the most impactful player back then.
12:23She was changing the game.
12:26Monica Seles was, I think,
12:28much more of a player who threw darts and held lasers.
12:31Just devilishly accurate.
12:34At the end of 1991,
12:36after winning three of the four Grand Slam women's titles,
12:39Seles bumps Graf from the number one spot.
12:44But there's one tennis fan
12:45who's willing to bump Seles off for good.
12:50Her cry of pain and terror cut through the stadium.
12:54Her attacker was quickly subdued by other spectators.
12:57In the early 90s, Agassi begins his decade-long competition
13:01with fellow American Pete Sampras.
13:04The Agassi-Sampras rivalry was a major rivalry on court.
13:09You had two Americans going at it
13:11with completely different styles and games,
13:14completely different personalities.
13:16Sampras is cast as the boy next door,
13:18opposite Agassi's flamboyant rebel.
13:22It comes to a head-to-head,
13:24Agassi, ranked fourth in the world,
13:27is the favorite to win.
13:28But number 12 Sampras beats Agassi in straight sets.
13:38Nike endorses both players
13:40and plays up their different styles.
13:42Stop right here.
13:43This wrinkles someone's tennis legs.
13:45I don't know what you're talking about.
13:47I'm not talking about you.
13:48I'm talking about you.
13:49I'm not talking about you.
13:51I'm talking about you.
13:52This wrinkles someone's tennis legs.
13:57Putting them in this commercial
13:59to reach fans on both sides of the net.
14:06Nike was able to position them both how they wanted to
14:10to sell differing lines and styles of footwear and apparel.
14:17Sponsors like Nike also compete over a young prodigy
14:20who's moving up in the women's ranks
14:22and seems destined to become number one.
14:28I believe someday she will be
14:30the number one player in the world.
14:31Jennifer Capriati was perhaps
14:34the most gifted ball striker of all time.
14:37Like Agassi, it's Capriati's father
14:39who pushes her into tennis
14:41with his dreams of her becoming a world-class player.
14:44And it works.
14:46At the age of 11 and 12,
14:47it was just beating up on people.
14:49She won big titles at a young age.
14:51I think she was only 13
14:52when she won her first Virginia Swims title.
14:54She became, you know,
14:56a kind of a household name overnight.
14:58Just six months after turning pro,
15:00Jennifer Capriati is now the 13th-ranked
15:03women's tennis player and America's sweetheart.
15:08Even before her professional debut in March of 1990,
15:12Capriati's father has the 13-year-old
15:14signed to 5.5 million in sponsorship deals
15:17with brands like Diodora, Prince Rackets,
15:20and Oil of Olay,
15:22making her the family's main breadwinner.
15:24Capriati was the face of brands
15:28as an incredibly young teenager.
15:32She even gets a Sega Genesis video game named after her,
15:35all while reassuring the press
15:37she's enjoying every minute of it.
15:40Are you having fun?
15:41Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun.
15:43It's great.
15:44It's all worth it all.
15:48But the huge commercial success
15:49of young male and female tennis prodigies
15:51like Agassi and Capriati
15:54masks the reality that not all successful young players
15:57are treated equally.
15:59When Zena Garrison becomes number four in the world,
16:02one of her biggest challenges
16:04is securing an endorsement deal,
16:06something she still doesn't have in 1990
16:09when she becomes the first Black woman
16:11to reach the Wimbledon finals in 32 years.
16:15Some agents were saying
16:16she wasn't marketable.
16:17I don't know how you're not marketable.
16:19Everybody's marketable, I think.
16:22It was kind of unbelievable,
16:24but it happened.
16:29On her way to that final
16:30against Martina Navratilova,
16:32Garrison has already beaten Monica Salas
16:34and Steffi Graf,
16:36who both have multi-million dollar sponsorships
16:39covering all their training and travel expenses.
16:42And the night before you play Martina,
16:44you're thinking of the fact that
16:46you're the one that doesn't have an endorsement.
16:47But there's this demoralizing feeling
16:49you have to experience when you're dominant,
16:52you're at the top of your game,
16:53you've done everything you can do,
16:55and they still say that's not enough
16:57because you're you.
17:01It will take until the end of the decade
17:03for that to change
17:04with the arrival of Venus and Serena Williams.
17:09Until then,
17:10the marketing stays focused
17:11on young white tennis players
17:13helping boost their fame
17:14while attracting the paparazzi,
17:19who in the 90s are becoming increasingly aggressive
17:22in their coverage of all celebrities,
17:24including their personal lives.
17:30German star Steffi Graf is hounded
17:32after her father is accused
17:33of having an illegitimate baby with a model.
17:38As for the player once labeled
17:40tennis's long-haired rebel,
17:42Agassi is now dealing with allegations
17:44he's actually a no-haired rebel,
17:46which he denies.
17:48You talked about the London tabloids
17:50being at times vicious.
17:51Did they have you like rooming with an alien?
17:53How bad did it get over there?
17:54No, they were funny, you know?
17:57I mean, the whole week started with them
18:00saying I wear my white cap
18:01because I had lost all my hair.
18:0330 years ago, we'd be like,
18:04oh yeah, he's a tennis player,
18:05he's a movie star.
18:06Now it was like, we're all stars,
18:07you know, we're both stars.
18:09You know, I'm a star in tennis,
18:10you're a star in Hollywood,
18:11let's get together.
18:12And that's just what Agassi
18:13and Barbra Streisand do in 1992.
18:17Their May-December romance,
18:19with Babs being 28 years his senior,
18:21makes headlines.
18:24But it also overshadows Andre finally winning
18:27his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
18:32The on-court behavior of some players
18:34also draws negative attention
18:36from both the press and spectators.
18:38For Monika Sellis,
18:40it's her trademark grunting
18:41with every ball she hits.
18:48She's not doing it on purpose,
18:49but she can stop it on purpose, you know?
18:53I've been practicing next to her
18:54and she does not make any noises
18:56when she's practicing.
19:00In some parts of the match,
19:01I was successful,
19:01in some parts I was not.
19:03But I do hope that next year
19:04when I come back here,
19:05I won't be so nervous.
19:08I won't be grunting.
19:15But one unhinged spectator
19:16becomes fixated on Sellis
19:18after she replaces Defby Graff
19:20as the number one player in the world.
19:27And on April 30th, 1993,
19:30his obsession will become global news
19:32and forever change the sport.
19:34What's considered the darkest day in tennis
19:38is when Monika Sellis was stabbed
19:40during a match in Hamburg.
19:44She stood frozen for a moment,
19:46feeling her back,
19:47not believing what had happened.
19:48Then medical personnel rushed to help her.
19:50A deranged fan, Gunther Parchin,
19:53a fan of Steffi Graff,
19:55jumped out of the stands,
19:56ran up on the changeover
19:58while Monika was sitting down,
20:00and stabbed her in the back
20:02and stabbed her in the back
20:03with a serrated knife.
20:06Her opponent, Magdalena Maleva,
20:08watched helplessly.
20:09Finally, officials wheeled Ms. Sellis
20:11off to the hospital.
20:12Doctors are keeping her there
20:14overnight for observation.
20:16When Monika Sellis was stabbed,
20:20it was unbelievable.
20:22I think everybody felt vulnerable.
20:25Everybody realized,
20:27oh my God, this could happen to any of us.
20:30Despite making a complete physical recovery,
20:32Sellis sinks into depression
20:34and develops an eating disorder
20:36that takes her off the circuit for two years,
20:38costing her the number one spot.
20:43And her attacker?
20:45He receives a suspended sentence
20:47and never spends a day in prison.
20:49It was one of the most alarming
20:52and unpleasant and kind of sad episodes in tennis
20:55because it really had a career transforming effect.
21:00On Monika Sellis,
21:01and therefore on everybody else
21:02because, of course,
21:04everybody else is the people she played.
21:05So suddenly a lot of people winning tournaments
21:07are getting foreign tournaments
21:09because Monika Sellis is not on board.
21:12The assault on Monika Sellis
21:13happens just 10 days
21:15after an equally disturbing attack
21:17on another female tennis prodigy.
21:20While the Sellis incident
21:21created shockwaves around the world,
21:22it wasn't really the first incident
21:24of violence against women.
21:26Just a week before Sellis was stabbed,
21:28you had Jennifer Rhodes,
21:30a young girl, promising young tennis player,
21:31you know, not on a pro tour yet,
21:33but, you know, I believe she was a college player
21:35and she had a promising career.
21:38Jennifer had just finished taking private lessons
21:40at an elite tennis academy in New York City
21:43when her coach becomes sexually obsessed with her.
21:48A fellow named Gary Walensky,
21:49who essentially people remember,
21:52and I frankly remember him
21:54because I used to play at those tennis courts,
21:55he'd be going around in his roller skates
21:58and he was coaching Jennifer Rhodes
22:01and his intention was to spear her off
22:03to a cabin he had somewhere upstate New York
22:06that was filled with all kinds of sex toys
22:08and bondage implements and things like that.
22:13So he had planned, presumably,
22:16to lock her up in that cabin
22:17and do whatever he was gonna do.
22:19And this pornographic video found inside
22:22may have been the blueprint
22:23for the obsessed man's desire.
22:25Its title bears the name of his victim,
22:27Jennifer.
22:29Heroically, Jennifer manages to call for help,
22:32forcing her former coach to flee the scene.
22:35And he ended up driving off in a rental car
22:37and putting a bullet through his head.
22:40The attempted abduction of Jennifer Rhodes
22:42and the stabbing of Monica Seles
22:44may seem like two unrelated events,
22:46chronicled by the news media,
22:48but Pete Bodo thinks they both point
22:50to an unsettling 90s reality.
22:52What it did underscore was that, you know,
22:54in some ways it was open season
22:56on women tennis players in that era.
22:59Women athletes were much more easily manipulated
23:01at that time.
23:02And they were much more at the mercy
23:06of A, either parents, B, coaches.
23:09There were any number of stories,
23:10and still are, unfortunately,
23:12about inappropriate relationships
23:14between coaches and students.
23:17The mistreatment of female tennis players in the 90s
23:20remains one of tennis's dirty little secrets,
23:23one that still plagues women's tennis to this day.
23:26But one story that doesn't go unnoticed
23:29is the downward spiral of America's sweetheart,
23:32Jennifer Capriati.
23:33Now, Jennifer Capriati's arrest on drug charges
23:36has brought a dark side of her life to light.
23:38The former tennis champ was arrested yesterday
23:40at a Coral Gables motel.
23:42She couldn't stop being Jennifer Capriati.
23:48At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona,
23:51Jennifer Capriati upset Steffi Graf in the finals
23:54to win gold for the U.S.
23:56There it is!
23:58Jennifer Capriati!
24:00Still only 15,
24:02she's already called one of the hardest-working players
24:04on the circuit.
24:06She was the epitome of someone who could push herself
24:10farther than anybody else could push herself.
24:12She was the epitome of someone who could push herself
24:16farther than anybody else could push herself.
24:18She didn't have an off switch.
24:20She couldn't stop.
24:22She had parental pressure.
24:24She had contractual pressure.
24:26If she wanted to, say, take a month off,
24:28there was somebody to say,
24:30look, you can't do that.
24:32You're committed to playing here, there, and everywhere.
24:34You've also got your sponsor deal.
24:36But like Andre Agassi early in his career,
24:38Capriati has yet to win a Grand Slam title,
24:40despite being ranked sixth in the world.
24:42So when she's knocked out of the first round
24:44of the 1993 U.S. Open
24:46by 37th-ranked Leila Mazzucchi,
24:48the media starts questioning
24:50whether she has what it takes
24:52to be a true champion.
24:54While Jennifer rolls over lower-ranked players,
24:56she has yet to beat any of the top five women.
24:58You're 14, 15.
25:00You're facing media.
25:02I mean, adults can't sometimes handle the media.
25:04And Jennifer came here
25:06with a teenager's mix of awe
25:08and frustration.
25:10A teenager's mix of awe
25:12and utter confidence.
25:14She was getting to the semis,
25:16but wanted to know when she was going to win.
25:18And I guess in some way she internalized that as pressure.
25:20And maybe everyone around her
25:22not having the patience
25:24and everyone wanted it so soon.
25:26So eventually
25:28she just took a break.
25:30She stopped playing.
25:32What does it mean to play here at Wimbledon?
25:34It's always been in my dream
25:36to play here.
25:38Eventually, you know, things began to catch up with her.
25:40She started to get into her teenage years.
25:42And suddenly she seemed to
25:44really get a little bit rebellious.
25:48In May of 1994,
25:50eight months after taking a break from tennis,
25:52Capriati is arrested for drug
25:54possession at a motel just outside
25:56of Miami.
25:58One-time tennis
26:00prodigy Jennifer Capriati's career
26:02is on a downward spiral.
26:04First, she was arrested on drug charges.
26:06Now she's lost a key endorsement
26:08and has reportedly entered a drug treatment
26:10clinic. Despite the drug
26:12being marijuana, the media
26:14breathlessly reports on Capriati's
26:16downfall.
26:18At the age of 13, Jennifer Capriati
26:20exploded onto the world
26:22stage with her booming smile and
26:24charming ground strokes. But somewhere
26:26something went wrong.
26:28And start looking for someone to blame
26:30for what they see as a good girl
26:32gone bad. And there is plenty of finger
26:34pointing over whether she was forced into
26:36big time tennis too early by her father.
26:38As any father and any
26:40mother, they teach their children
26:42the best they can be.
26:44I did not
26:46see anything abusive
26:48other than just yelling and screaming
26:50and like, move your
26:52derriere and all that stuff.
26:54She never told me about any
26:56kind of abuse, but
26:58she was pushed harder
27:00than almost any human being could be pushed.
27:02That's for sure.
27:06Capriati becomes a case
27:08study in burnout.
27:10And her story will
27:12provide the backdrop for judging
27:14how all tennis dads treat their
27:16aspiring children.
27:18What do you feel inside in your
27:20court? I feel good.
27:22I feel good. But Richard Williams
27:24is teaching his daughters, Venus and Serena,
27:26a different approach to tennis,
27:28far from any private country club
27:30courts. As Venus
27:32and Serena are coming up in the 90s,
27:34all the media coverage around them
27:36starts by talking about them
27:38being from Compton.
27:42For most of
27:44America in the 90s, Compton
27:46conjures images of the LA riots
27:48and movies like Boys in the Hood.
27:52We have Venus and Serena
27:54coming up in a space that there aren't
27:56a lot of resources or public support
27:58for them. And despite that,
28:00their father, their family
28:02support them in a way that get them
28:04to a point where they can compete on a national
28:06and international scale.
28:10Their background being
28:12so anti-tennis
28:14establishment and having come
28:16from the Compton public courts
28:18into two of the best
28:20tennis players to ever live
28:22is a story that
28:24resonates with
28:26people outside of tennis.
28:28Initially coached by their dad,
28:30the Williams sisters steamroll
28:32the junior circuit.
28:34Serena is number one in the
28:36under 10, and then we have Venus
28:38who hasn't even lost a single match.
28:40And she's number one
28:42as an 11-year-old.
28:44Richard does enroll them in a
28:46Florida tennis academy, but then
28:48forbids them from continuing on the junior
28:50circuit. He pulls
28:52them out and says, I want them to have an education.
28:56Before they go professional, he says,
28:58I don't want you to think that sports are your way
29:00out. Richard
29:02holds them back from turning pro until he thinks
29:04they're mentally ready to handle the
29:06pressure. For Venus,
29:08the older sister, that moment
29:10comes in October of 1994
29:12when she debuts her
29:14talent at the Bank of the West Classic.
29:16Returning to your native California
29:18tonight to play her first ever
29:20professional match, Venus
29:22Williams.
29:24The first time I met Venus and Serena,
29:26they were 10 and 12 years old.
29:28I hit with
29:30Venus and Serena, and you knew they were
29:32something special. You can see it young.
29:34They have that from the
29:36beginning.
29:38As for the media, they seem to fear that
29:40Venus and Serena will each become
29:42the next Jennifer Caprioti.
29:44And in interviews, they start fishing
29:46for signs of future distress.
29:48Do you think you can beat her?
29:50I know I can beat her.
29:52You know you can beat her.
29:54Very confident.
29:56But when journalist John McKenzie
29:58you say it so easily,
30:00presses young Venus for being confident.
30:02Why? Her father, Richard,
30:04comes to her defense.
30:16We can't keep interrupting.
30:18You've got to understand that you're dealing
30:20with an image of a 14-year-old child.
30:22There's this interesting way that he's seen as a
30:24tyrant. He's interrupting.
30:26He's unprofessional. He doesn't
30:28understand the decorum.
30:30Leave that alone!
30:32This idea of protecting
30:34his daughter in that moment
30:36is what I remember the most.
30:38Those protective instincts
30:40of Richard Williams is something Andre
30:42may have missed out on as a child.
30:44But now 25,
30:46Agassi appears to be self-possessed
30:48and handling the media spotlight
30:50just fine.
30:54He's now dating actress Brooke Shields
30:56and after winning his second Grand Slam
30:58title at the 1994 U.S. Open,
31:00Agassi is treated the same
31:02as any show business celebrity.
31:04Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back
31:06the hunkiest tennis player ever,
31:08Andre Agassi.
31:10Andre!
31:12But under the media
31:14spotlight, it's harder to hide
31:16those tabloid rumors that he's losing
31:18his hair, especially
31:20when they're true.
31:22His signature
31:24mane of fleecy hair is partly
31:26a weave.
31:28Agassi's been going bald since he was a teenager.
31:30And it's Brooke Shields
31:32who finally convinces him to embrace
31:34it
31:36by buzzing off what he has left.
31:47To the public, Agassi
31:49is living a sparkling life.
31:51Going into 1995,
31:53he's got a glossy girlfriend,
31:55a polished scalp,
31:57and a shiny number two in the world
31:59tennis rankings.
32:01But in the shadows,
32:03Andre's hiding a secret much
32:05darker than a synthetic hairpiece.
32:07And it's about to come to light.
32:09I think he was always
32:11trying to stay ahead of the game and ahead of the curve.
32:13I think he just went too far.
32:16No, no,
32:18Celis looks like this is all coming
32:20back to her.
32:22In 1995, two years after her stabbing,
32:24Monica Celis makes a courageous
32:26return to tennis, winning the
32:28Canadian Open.
32:32Months later, she proves it's no fluke
32:34by capturing her fourth
32:36Australian Open.
32:41Jeff Tarango is also making headlines
32:43during this time, but for a less
32:45celebratory reason.
32:48In 1995 at Wimbledon,
32:50there was an interesting incident involving
32:52Jeff Tarango.
32:54Tennis player Jeff Tarango stormed off
32:56the court at Wimbledon.
32:58The American is upset with what he calls
33:00corrupt officiating.
33:02Yesterday, Tarango became, it is believed,
33:04the first player in the Open era
33:06to default himself from a grand slam,
33:08storming off the court after accusing
33:10chair umpire of being corrupt.
33:131995,
33:15I'm playing against Steffi Graf's
33:17boyfriend, you know, Alexander Moran's
33:19in the third round.
33:24I keep acing the guy out wide,
33:26and they keep calling it out.
33:28Can you call the supervisor, please? I have a big beef.
33:30When Jeff argues the call with umpire
33:32Bruno Rabieux, the crowd at Wimbledon
33:34turns against him.
33:37They were screaming so loud that I literally
33:39couldn't hit the serve.
33:41So I turned around to them and I said,
33:43Oh, shut up!
33:47Code violation.
33:49And he got a code violation for that.
33:52No, I'm not playing. No way.
33:54But then Jeff takes it one step further.
33:56You are the most corrupt official
33:58in the game, and you can't do that.
34:00I'm just like, you know you're the most
34:02corrupt official on the planet.
34:04For calling him corrupt, the umpire
34:06deducts one game from Jeff's score.
34:08This is very serious.
34:10And he doesn't take it well.
34:12Code violation.
34:14No way! That's it!
34:19I can do two things.
34:21I can grab him by his tie
34:23and smash him down onto the net post,
34:25or I can just take the better side of life
34:27and just walk off the court right now.
34:30As he exits, his wife,
34:32who had been watching from the stands,
34:34decides it's time for her to come
34:36to her husband's defense.
34:38Meanwhile, Madame Tarango,
34:41lovely French woman,
34:43gets up out of her place courtside,
34:45walks over, and when Rubaud comes down
34:47from the chair, she whacks him
34:49across the face with a classic
34:51French slap.
34:58The slap at Wimbledon.
35:00I heard that it happened,
35:02and I know that my wife
35:04said it happened.
35:06And the chair-upper, I don't think
35:08he ever said it happened.
35:12It's a gray area to me,
35:14so I'm not going to go on the record
35:16about the slap.
35:18For his behavior at Wimbledon,
35:20Tarango gets fined $20,000
35:22by the Tennis Association.
35:24Cha-ching, cha-ching.
35:26Two years later, in 1997,
35:28Andre Agassi will face significantly
35:30less repercussions when a routine
35:32drug test comes back positive
35:34than what's normally ingested
35:36by professional athletes,
35:38crystal meth.
35:41Agassi denies knowingly taking the drug
35:43and blames his assistant
35:45for spiking his energy drink
35:47until a decade later
35:49when he finally tells the truth
35:51in his memoir.
35:53Going through Agassi's book,
35:55then you come to the point where
35:57he actually experiments with meth
35:59while he's basically a player.
36:01I think in that time
36:03when he says he was on meth,
36:05I think he was always trying to stay
36:07ahead of the game and ahead of the curve.
36:09I think he just went too far.
36:11But not everyone thinks he was
36:13taking crystal meth as a performance enhancer.
36:16Andre's use of meth, in a sense,
36:18is not shocking or surprising
36:20because, look, he was obviously
36:22in rebellion against the sport
36:24for much of the time.
36:27When do people turn to drugs?
36:29Well, when they're confused or unhappy
36:31or depressed, whatever.
36:33I think that probably had a fair amount
36:35to do with Andre.
36:37These hands, these miracle,
36:39magical, life-giving hands.
36:41The drugs seem to make him erratic.
36:43Maybe even lick one?
36:45On the set of the sitcom Friends,
36:47where his girlfriend Brooke Shields
36:49is guest-starring...
36:51Yeah.
36:54He gets irate
36:56watching a scene that he thinks
36:58is too sexual.
37:02He storms off
37:04and drives back to his home in Las Vegas
37:06alone.
37:11Where he destroys
37:13most of his tennis trophies.
37:16Despite incidents like this,
37:18Andre hides his addiction
37:20from Brooke.
37:22And they tie the knot
37:24in a small ceremony
37:26in April of 97.
37:28I don't think it's like he was running
37:30down the street looking for meth
37:32because, you know, he had an issue.
37:34I think he was, like,
37:36trying to make himself
37:38a better tennis player,
37:40and it wasn't happening.
37:42And he was looking for something
37:44He made a mistake.
37:46He made a few mistakes.
37:50If he took the drug to improve his game,
37:52it clearly doesn't work.
37:54Within a year, Agassi falls
37:56from the top five to 141st
37:58in the world rankings.
38:03Like the struggles of Capriati and Celis,
38:05Agassi's downward spiral
38:07highlights the pressures
38:09facing star players
38:11in a decade when little attention
38:13was paid to mental health.
38:16I think in the 90s, mental health,
38:18it was kind of like a taboo
38:20to really say that you were having
38:22any kind of problems.
38:25Well, people just didn't talk about it
38:27because they maybe thought
38:29it was a sign of weakness.
38:32I think sports psychology
38:34started becoming big in the 90s,
38:36but nobody was thinking about it
38:38as mental health.
38:40They were thinking about it as
38:43While both Agassi and Capriati's troubles
38:45take them down, neither is taken out.
38:47They're both about to shock the world
38:49of tennis with what they do next.
38:51And as they say, it's not how you fall,
38:53it's how you get back up.
38:58As the 90s wind down,
39:00Andre Agassi surprises everyone
39:02in his sport by doing the unexpected.
39:04He makes a comeback.
39:07I think Andre showed a lot of character
39:09in how he rebounded from this very confusing
39:11I think period in his life.
39:13I think it made an impact on a lot of people
39:15and you realize we're all vulnerable.
39:17Like if Andre's the highest paid player
39:19and he's having those kind of issues,
39:21then it's okay for us to have some issues.
39:24Over 12 months, Agassi battles his way
39:26from 141st in the world
39:28back into the top 10.
39:32By summer of 1999,
39:34his two-year marriage to Brooke Shields is over.
39:37But off the drugs
39:39and on a new fitness routine,
39:41Agassi finishes the year
39:43as the number one men's professional
39:45tennis player in the world.
39:49I think he kind of came to terms with tennis
39:51and he came to value
39:53and appreciate his profession
39:55and his talent.
39:58At the dawn of Agassi's rebirth,
40:00Steffi Graf, just 30 years old,
40:02announces her retirement
40:04mere months after winning
40:06her 22nd Grand Slam title
40:08at the French Open.
40:11She and Agassi start dating that year.
40:16When she retires,
40:18that leaves a void, that leaves an opening.
40:22One Jennifer Capriati
40:24is surprisingly ready to fill.
40:26In 2001, 11 years after
40:28her promising debut,
40:30she enters the Australian Open
40:32as the 12th seed,
40:34beats Monica Sellis to enter the semifinals,
40:36and then defeats Martina Hingis
40:38to win her first Grand Slam tournament.
40:40By the end of the year,
40:42Capriati is the number one female
40:44player in the world.
40:46She played a
40:48perfect match.
40:50She'd won the Australian Open, that was a very
40:52heartwarming story. And then of course
40:54she had the biggest story of all, really,
40:56was the Williams sisters' rapid development
40:58and emergence as Grand Slam champions.
41:00To see where we come from
41:02out of the worst ghetto,
41:04to be here at the finest club
41:06in the world.
41:08Starting in 1999, the Williams
41:10sisters begin dominating the sport's
41:12top events. It will quickly
41:14become Serena
41:16versus Venus in
41:18most of these major tournaments.
41:20Those were the two
41:22that were really just taking over
41:24the sport of tennis.
41:26Unlike Zina Garrison back
41:28in 1990, the Williams sisters
41:30have no trouble landing sponsors,
41:32including Venus'
41:34five-year, $40 million endorsement
41:36deal with Reebok, the biggest
41:38for any female athlete in
41:40history.
41:42When Venus Williams
41:44signed her deal with Reebok,
41:46it was huge
41:48in the landscape of
41:50female sports.
41:52Still to this day, the
41:54highest paid female
41:56athletes in terms of endorsements
41:58are tennis players.
42:00The Williams
42:02sisters profoundly changed the
42:04demographic of who watches and
42:06plays tennis, attracting
42:08people of color to a sport historically
42:10dominated by affluent white
42:12people.
42:14I feel so happy. It's like a dream come true
42:16because I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time.
42:18People that never would have watched
42:20tennis started watching tennis, coming to
42:22tennis tournaments.
42:24Are you serious?
42:26They reached
42:28an audience that
42:30tennis had to reach.
42:32Televised tennis now reaches
42:34more than a billion people globally.
42:36And at the 2018
42:38U.S. Open, Serena's final
42:40match against Naomi Osaka drew
42:42in 50% more television
42:44viewers than the men's final the
42:46following day.
42:50You can't overestimate
42:52how big an impact Venus and Serena and
42:54their story had on changing
42:56things.
42:58Much of the diversity of talent on the
43:00tennis circuit today can be directly
43:02attributed to the Williams sisters.
43:04But there's also the trailblazers
43:06of the 90s. People like
43:08Zena Garrison,
43:10Capriati,
43:12Sellis,
43:14and Agassi, who all left their marks
43:16on the game. It doesn't just
43:18begin with Venus and Serena.
43:20We're all standing on the shoulders
43:22of other people that have come before us.
43:24I think that the stars of the past,
43:26they have made a space to
43:28carve out for the next generation. And so
43:30it's not just Venus and Serena.
43:32Now we can have five of them. Hopefully
43:34ten, fifteen of them.
43:36Anytime that you have
43:38a player that can
43:40push back against an establishment,
43:42then that creates more room
43:44for somebody to come in behind them.
43:46That's what's great about tennis.
43:48Every era is going to show something better.
43:50The 90s made
43:52tennis happen for the future.