"Andre Agassi was suffering an intense ache, he wanted to tell his story and didn't know how" - Ghostwriter of 'Open' and Prince Harry's 'Spare'

Pulitzer prize-winning novelist J.R. Moehringer is best known in the tennis world for being the ghostwriter of 'Open' -- the autobiography of eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi. More recently, Moehringer also ghostwrote 'Spare,' the best-selling memoir of Prince Harry.

'Open' was an instant success upon publication, and has gone on to become an inspiration for several athletes and people around the world. Moehringer recently opened up about his experience working with the former World No. 1 in an interview with The New Yorker, talking about a variety of subjects - from why Agassi approached him in the first place to how their relationship evolved.

According to Moehringer, Andre Agassi was drawn to him because of his own memoir: 'The Tender Bar.' Upon reading it, the American decided to write one of his own, and looked to enlist the same man for the job.

"On the verge of retiring, he told me that he was decompressing from the emotions of the moment by reading my memoir, “The Tender Bar,” which had recently been published. It had him thinking about writing his own. He wondered if I’d come talk to him about it. A few weeks later, we met at a restaurant in his home town, Las Vegas," Moehringer said.

Interestingly, the ghostwriter noted that Agassi wanted to talk only about his memoir and not about tennis, which he "hated."

"He hated tennis, he said. He wanted to talk about memoir. He had a list of questions. He asked why my memoir was so confessional. I told him that’s how you know you can trust an author—if he’s willing to get raw," Moehringer said.

Moehringer admitted that he initially rejected the offer from Andre Agassi to ghostwrite his memoir a couple of times. What pushed him to finally do it was understanding that the American had an "intense" and "specific" ache in him that only he could cure.

The novelist felt that Agassi wanted to tell his story to the world but didn't know how -- an emotion he himself had experience of firsthand before the publication of his own memoir.

"Apart from a beef with my bosses, and apart from the money (Andre was offering a sizable bump from my reporter salary), what finally made me change my no to a yes, put my stuff into storage, and move to Vegas was the sense that Andre was suffering an intense and specific ache that I might be able to cure. He wanted to tell his story and didn’t know how; I’d been there. I’d struggled for years to tell my story," Moehringer said.

"In two years of working together, we never exchanged a harsh word" - J.R. Moehringer on his relationship with Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi Off Court At The 2019 Australian Open

J.R. Moehringer then described his relationship with Andre Agassi during the course of the book. He revealed that it was two of the smoothest years of his life, as the duo never exchanged a "harsh" word.

Moehringer was all praise for the American, hailing him for giving him a wonderful story to work with and also for treating him with respect throughout the duration of their collaboration.

"'Please,' I said to Andre. 'Don’t give me a story to tell at future Super Bowls.' He grinned and said he’d do his best. He did better than that. In two years of working together, we never exchanged a harsh word, not even when he felt my first draft needed work," Moehringer said.