Andre Agassi wrote of how lonely he found tennis… I’d have preferred his kind of loneliness” – Former ATP player Conor Niland

Former ATP player Conor Niland has revisited an incident he witnessed during his playing days that involved Andre Agassi. In hindsight, Niland has reflected on how Agassi found tennis lonely, as the eight-time Major champion himself has confessed in his autobiography.

However, according to Niland, he would have liked to experience the former World No. 1’s loneliness, based on what he took away from the incident.

In his prime, Niland was the Irish No. 1. However, throughout his career, he could never really establish himself as a top player on the ATP Tour. The Irishman’s highest singles ATP Tour ranking was World No. 129, which he achieved in 2010.

In doubles, he went only as high as World No. 770, another achievement from the same year.Recently, Niland himself wrote an article titled ”I’m Good, I Promise’: the loneliness of the low-ranking tennis player’, which was published by The Guardian on Thursday, June 27. In one of the article’s passages, he recalled seeing Agassi at an ATP Tour event in San Jose, California. At the time, Agassi was surrounded by the tournament’s organizers, but despite the company, Niland noticed a “vacant gaze” in the American’s eyes.

Next, the Irishman saw that Agassi asked a member of his entourage to fetch him some water, despite a fridge full of water bottles being a stone’s throw away. According to Niland, the American only took a sip of the water before moving on with the organizers. The Irishman reflected on how Agassi wrote about the loneliness he felt in tennis in his autobiography. Niland believes that he could have done with the “loneliness” he saw that day in his career.