Andre Agassi defeated Boris Becker with his unique ability to read his serve. Becker had one of the most powerful and feared serves in tennis, but Agassi discovered a subtle signal that Becker was unconsciously giving. Before serving, Becker stuck out his tongue, and the direction of it gave away where he would place the ball. If his tongue went straight forward, the serve would go to the center. If it was slightly out to the side, the serve would come toward the outside.

Agassi secretly used this information to better position himself for the return. This allowed him to effectively neutralize Becker’s serve, which was normally a big advantage. He occasionally pretended not to know, so as not to arouse Becker’s suspicions.

This clever insight, combined with Agassi’s quick reflexes and strong baseline play, gave him the advantage in many of their matches. Agassi ultimately won ten of the fourteen meetings against Becker. It was only years later, after their careers had ended, that Agassi revealed this secret to Becker, who reacted with surprise as he had always believed Agassi could read his mind.

https://invidio.us/watch?v=57BMzCM6hQI

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