Former tennis star Andre Agassi may be best known for his sporting prowess, but fans were stunned by something wholly different when he shared a throwback snap on Monday.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion shared an image of himself and his beloved wife in honour of their 24th wedding anniversary.
Andre’s look was a far cry from the trademark shaved head he’s sported for many years, as it showed him with a huge barnet of shoulder-length hair.
And while fans may be led to believe that Andre was blessed with good genes, in reality, the star has admitted he began losing his hair at the age of 19, and his hair was just a wig.
The sportsman shared the admission in his autobiography Open, saying he wore a wig for a number of years in a bid to hide his hair loss.
He also admitted that the wig even cost him a Grand Slam title, when a problem with the hairpiece distracted him during the French Open final in 1990.
Tennis star Andre Agassi stunned fans with a throwback snap this week, but while many were surprised to see his luscious locks, in reality it was a wig (left in 1990 and right this month)
The seven-time Grand Slam champion shared an image of himself and his beloved wife in honour of their 24th wedding anniversary on Monday
Detailing his hair loss in the book, Andre said: ‘Every morning I would get up and find another piece of my identity on the pillow, in the wash basin, down the plughole.
‘I asked myself: you want to wear a toupee? On the tennis court? I answered myself; what else could I do?’
The sportsman was tipped as a future Grand Slam favourite after making the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 1988 and the US Open in 1988 and 1989.
While hopes were high when he reached the French Open final the following year, he admitted that due to a problem with his wig, he was distracted for much of the match, and eventually lost to Andres Gomez.
He revealed: ‘Then a fiasco happened The evening before the match, I stood under the shower and felt my wig suddenly fall apart.
‘Probably I used the wrong hair rinse. I panicked and called my brother Philly into the room.
”It’s a total disaster!” I said to him. He looked at it and said he could clamp it with hair clips. It took 20 clips. ”Do you think it will hold?” I asked. ”Just don’t move so much,” he said.
‘During the warming-up training before play I prayed. Not for victory, but that my hairpiece would not fall off.
The sportsman revealed in his autobiography that he wore a wig for many years after he started losing his hair when he was 19
He also admitted that the wig even cost him a Grand Slam title, when a problem with the hairpiece distracted him during the French Open final in 1990
Andre was eventually brave enough to ditch the wig in 1995, and that year, after taking to the court with his shaved head, he won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open
‘With each leap, I imagine it falling into the sand. I imagine millions of spectators move closer to their TV sets, their eyes widening and, in dozens of dialects and languages, ask how Andre Agassi’s hair has fallen from his head.’
Andre was eventually brave enough to ditch the wig in 1995, and that year, after taking to the court with his shaved head, he won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open.
He went on to complete a career Grand Slam, becoming the first male player to do so since Rod Laver, when he finally won the French Open in 1999.
On Monday, Andre celebrated his 24th anniversary with his wife Steffi Graf by sharing a throwback snap of them both posing with their Wimbledon trophies.
Andre clasped the Men’s Single’s cup while his future wife, who he tied the knot with in 2001, held the Lady’s Single’s Rosewater Dish.
He also posted a more recent snap of the pair, who share daughter Jaz, 22, and son Jaden, 24, as they beamed for the camera looking more loved-up than ever.
Andre captioned the post: ’24 years with this wonderful women, Happy Anniversary Steffi, you are my unicorn!’
Fans gushed over the snap and raced to the comments: ‘Is Stephi aging backwards?’: ‘Best couple ever’: ‘Happy Anniversary, you are the two players that made me love tennis’: ‘She’s aging like a fine wine happy anniversary’.
Despite the snap of the pair in 1992, Andre would go on to marry Brooke Shields from 1997 to 1999, before finding happiness with Steffi.
Earlier this year the actress claimed that her ex-husband once body-shamed her with a backhanded compliment.
She opened up about their relationship in her new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old, where she shared more about her time in the modeling industry and how it gave her body image issues.
On Monday, Andre celebrated his 24th anniversary with his wife Steffi Graf by sharing a throwback snap alongside a more recent image of them together (pictured)
‘I was very specifically told I was not runway worthy, because I wasn’t skinny enough,’ she wrote in her new book, per People.
‘Being told you are “the face,” you begin to believe that’s all you are — a face. From the neck up, I was Brooke Shields, but it was like my body existed in a different reality,’ she penned.
She recalled telling Andre about these inner thoughts and insecurities.
‘When I would profess my insecurities to my first husband, he would always say, “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you,”‘ Shields wrote.
‘However when I said, “Will you still love me if I’m big and fat?’ (I meant once I got pregnant – an unfair question for anybody to ask another person I know!) I could never have expected his response,’ she continued.
Brooke claimed that Andre told her, ‘I love you too much to let you get big and fat!’
The Pretty Baby star admitted in the book that it was a response that she didn’t expect.
‘I definitely did not see that coming and must admit I started to spin a bit,’ Shields wrote, per the outlet.
