"That guy's sooo hot!" - Darren Cahill and the crazy Safin Agassi story
Darren Cahill is one of the most successful coaches on the tour, he has worked with Andre Agassi, among others. But it almost never happened - because his wife would have preferred to see him with Marat Safin.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 29, 2020, 02:17 pm
Yes, yes, we admit: it is a bit older story. It's the story of Darren Cahill and how he became the coach of Andre Agassi - told by the Australian himself in the podcast of the tennis magazine Racquet .
Because actually, ex-professional Cahill had almost agreed to Marat Safin after his engagement at Lleyton Hewitt. That was in 2002, as part of the Australian Open discussions had taken place about a collaboration with the US Open champ from 2000. To the great delight of his wife Victoria, as Cahill was surprised to see. Their reaction to the Safin offer: “Oh my god, this is incredible! This guy is so hot, sooo hot! My friends and I have tickets to all of his matches. It's soooo hot, you have to take this job! "
He, Cahill, just looked at her and asked: “Are you serious about all of this?” But she was dead serious. Safin finally made it to the Melbourne finals in 2002, and Victoria asked every day, “How's it going? Is there anything I can do for you? "Cahill just thought:" This is gonna be interesting ... "
In the final, Safin had three pretty ladies as guests in the Player's Box. Victoria saw the game too and Cahill said to her, “Baby, do you really want to be a part of this? The three look like they are from the professional trade. "Answer Victoria Cahill:" Baby, call me number four. "
Agassi? "Is old, has no hair and walks like a duck"
A few days later the phone rang and Andre Agassi was on the line. He had just ended the collaboration with long-term coach Brad Gilbert , and when Victoria passed the phone on to her husband, it happened with the clear sign: "No, no, we certainly won't."
Agassi actually asked Cahill if he could become his new coach. He, Cahill, told Agassi that he was about to work with Safin. When the phone call was over, Victoria said: "That won't happen, killer (Cahill's nickname, editor's note) . We have a 22 year old 1.95 meter tall hot sexy Russian with Marat Safin here. And - how old is Andre? 48, 49? He's old, has no hair and walks like a duck. "
"You don't want your wife around him!"
Cahill just laughed. Then, just two minutes later, Agassi called again. "Hey, I've been thinking about what you said to Marat," he explained. “You can't take this job. This guy is beyond control, completely unpredictable. And you certainly don't want your wife around him. ”Agassi also said that he won't hang up if Cahill doesn't agree. And he replied: "Okay, I'll take the job."
On the entire flight to San Francisco he had to hear from his wife: "Killer, that was a mistake, what else are you going to teach him, he's a legend ... We could be in Russia by now!"
When the two marched into Agassis and Graf's house, completely overwhelmed by the 29 Grand Slam trophies (22 from Graf, 7 to date from Agassi), they were completely nervous. But Graf and Agassi were so friendly that Agassi even picked them up from the airport. Darren and Victoria finally came to their large living area, where they were allowed to spend the night, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. And Victoria only said: "Good call, killer. Don't fuck this up! "
Cahill was now all the more nervous that everything would work out - which it did in the end: Agassi blossomed again, won his eighth (and last) Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2003. And Cahill: The coach stayed by his side until the end of his career in 2006.
You can listen to the entire Safin Agassi story here - it's worth it!