Metallica Superstar Lars Ulrich Claims He And John McEnroe Destroyed Andre Agassi
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich swapped drumsticks for tennis rackets recently — and emerged a winner on the court. On the podcast “The Morning X with Barns and Leslie,” Ulrich described an amusing battle that had him and tennis great John McEnroe beating none other than Andre Agassi and former New York Yankees great Paul O’Neill in a casual doubles match in Austin, Texas.
“I got the privilege of practicing with Mr. Agassi in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday,” Ulrich exclaimed with a chuckle. “Johnny Mac and I played Andre and this Yankees baseball player named Paul O’Neill and needless to say, we kicked their (expletive) back into oblivion.”
The court jam session left an indelible mark — not just for the win, but also on his body. “Which is kind of why I feel the way I feel,” he laughed. “Because I haven’t been able to walk for the last two days.”
Ulrich also spoke candidly about his own tennis background, which holds a surprising relationship to the sport.
“My father was a professional tennis player, so I lived on the circuit,” he said. “I went to Nick Bollettieri’s tennis ‘prison camp’ when I finished school and went down to Florida. That pretty much scared me from setting foot on a tennis court again.”
Nick Bollettieri pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school and made legends out of many leading tennis players during the past few decades, including the likes of Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Though Ulrich once dreamed of a career in tennis, he conceded that his enthusiasm for the game dissipated early.
“Until I was 15, I was really into it, and then everything went to hell,” he said bluntly. “It was one of the most horrible years of my life — don’t tell anyone.”
Ulrich’s surprise court victory is merely another one of his installments in the continuing saga of a rock legend whose stories and foundations reach far deeper than the spotlight.
