The More Intimately You Know Resistance, The Better Your Work Will Become
In 1988, Andre Agassi and Boris Becker faced off for the first time, kicking off what would become one of tennis’s great rivalries.
Agassi and Becker were two of the top players in the world, finishing the year ranked №3 and 4 in the world respectively. But despite Agassi’s superior ranking, in this first meeting between the two stars, it was Becker coming out on top.
“His serve was something the game had never seen before,” Agassi later recalled. On the strength of that serve, Becker would defeat Agassi in two subsequent matches in 1989, leapfrogging Agassi to take the №2 spot on the rankings in the process.
Frustrated, and knowing that the route to victory at any major tournament was likely to lead through Becker, Agassi got to work. He pored through footage of Becker, analyzing his playing style in search of the slightest knick in his armour. And then, after countless hours watching tape, Agassi found it.
“I started to realize he had this weird tick with his tongue,” Agassi said. “He would go into his rocking motion, and just as he was about to toss the ball, he would stick his tongue out. And it would either be right in the middle of his lip, or it’d be to the left corner of his lip.
