By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, September 25, 2026
Photo credit: Laver Cup Facebook
Andre Agassi knows how it feels to endure extremes.
A young Agassi lost the first three Grand Slam finals he faced, but resculpted his body and rediscovered his love for the game rising to world No. 1 and becoming the first man to achieve the career Golden Slam, winning all four Grand Slam championships and the Olympic gold medal in singles.
At the pre Laver Cup presser, Team World Captain Agassi was asked why he chose enigmatic and explosive Alexander Bublik to play for the defending champions.
Before directly addressing the question, Agassi said he views two common tennis labels—overachiever and underachiver—as myths for a simple reason.
“I don’t believe in overachieving and underachieving. People can use those words, but it’s pretty simple in tennis,” Agassi told the media in London. “How is somebody overachieving if they achieved it? Because they went out there and they did it.
“And how is somebody underachieving if they didn’t do it?”
Hall of Famer Agassi said he focuses on maximizing players’ levels of play in every match and stacking those performances to build successful seasons.
“The thing I have to answer in my own head when I look at players is are they maximizing, and are they making decisions that lend towards maximizing everything they’re capable of over a long period of time,” Agassi said. “Not just the high end of a match or high end of a great tournament or a couple great weeks or a great year.”
When it comes to Bublik, Agassi said the entertaining shotmaker owns the skills to go deep in each event, if the first Kazakhstan man to crack the ATP’s Top 10 can bring his best.
“When I look at Sascha, I look at a guy and say, If you give me his game, I’m sorry, I’m not maximizing unless I’m having a say at the end of a lot of tournaments,” Agassi said.
Bublik joked Captain Agassi and Vice-Captain Patrick Rafter made him “sign certain papers” to tone down his flashy, flamboyant game.
“I signed certain papers between Pat and Andre to never underarm serve here, not to smile after points, so it’s really strict for me here, but I just came here to bring the good tennis and bring some laughs in,” said Bublik, who will face Rafael Jodar on Friday night. “Unfortunately, no showmanship here, as I’m not allowed due to couple of talks I had with the team captains.”
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