How Did Andre Agassi's Father Torture Him Into Greatness?

David Senra says Andre Agassi hated tennis with all his heart and still became the best in the world at it because his father tortured him into greatness against his will. The hatred only makes sense through that relationship with his father.

At seven, Agassi talked to himself because he was scared and because he was the only person who listened. He whispered to quit, give up, put the racket down, and walk off the court. He could not. His father would chase him around the house with the racket, and something in his gut would not let him stop. He kept hitting all morning and all afternoon because he had no choice, and the gap between what he wanted to do and what he did felt like the core of his life. His father yelled everything twice, sometimes three times, sometimes 10 times: harder. If Agassi hit 2,500 balls each day, he would hit 17,500 balls each week, and at the end of one year nearly 1 million balls. His father believed in math. Numbers do not lie. A child who hits 1 million balls each year will be unbeatable. When his shoulder ached and he could not hit another ball, he hit another three. When he could not go on another minute, he went on another ten. His father believed thinking is the source of all bad things because thinking is the opposite of doing.