"It’s as though she’s suggesting I have all my teeth pulled" - When Andre Agassi was told to shave his hair by then-girlfriend Brooke Shields

Andre Agassi once claimed that Brooke Shields was the one who suggested that he shave off all the hair on his head.

Agassi was a precocious talent and made quite a name for himself as a teenager on the tennis circuit. The American sported a mullet in his early days and was well known for his hairstyle. He eventually shaved his hair in 1995 and has maintained a completely bald look ever since.

Agassi wrote in his book "Open: An Autobiography" that his girlfriend at the time, Brooke Shields, told him to shave his hair. The former World No. 1 responded by telling her he would feel "naked" and "exposed."

"'I think you should get rid of that hairpiece,' Brooke says. 'And that ponytail. Shave your hair short, short, and be done with it'. 'Impossible. I’d feel naked'. 'You’d feel liberated'. 'I’d feel exposed,'" Agassi wrote.

Andre Agassi further wrote that he felt like Shields was asking him to have all his teeth pulled. While he initially dismissed the idea of shaving his hair, he thought about the inconvenience of hairpieces and felt that cutting his hair might be the first step towards sanity. Agassi eventually relented and shaved off his hair.

"It’s as though she’s suggesting I have all my teeth pulled," Agassi wrote. "I tell her to forget it. Then I go away and think about it for a few days. I think about the pain my hair has caused me, the inconvenience of the hairpieces, the hypocrisy and the pretending and the lying."

"Maybe it isn’t crazy after all. Maybe it’s the first step toward sanity. I stand before Brooke one morning and say, 'Let’s do it,'" he added.

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Andre Agassi won six Grand Slams after shaving off his hair

Andre Agassi at the 2019 Australian Open

Six out of Andre Agassi's eight Grand Slams came after he shaved his hair. The first of those came shortly after his haircut, at the 1995 Australian Open.

Agassi said in his book that he would remember that tournament as his first "bald Slam." He beat his rival Pete Sampras in the final in Melbourne that year.

Agassi won two Grand Slams in 1999, at the French Open and the US Open, the former win helping him complete the Career Grand Slam. He won three Grand Slams in the 21st century, all of them at the Australian Open.

Andre Agassi retired from tennis in 2006 after that year's US Open, where he reached the third round but lost to Benjamin Becker.