Andre Agassi's Family Battle With Cancer

Feb. 15 -- Just last month, Andre Agassi won his second Australian Open title in a row, snatching the victory from opponent Arnaud Clement — the same player who beat him just five months earlier at the U.S. Open.

But at the earlier match, Agassi had weightier issues on his mind: his family.

The tennis star’s first tennis partners were his family. And one of those early partners was his sister Tami, who at 31 is just one year older than Andre. Last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The family faced it together: with their brother Philip, Andre shaved Tami’s head when she started chemotherapy.

“It’s quite symbolic of how she’s treated the whole fight,” Agassi told Good Morning America. “You know whatever stage it’s been, it’s been 'I’m gonna hit this head on.' And it’s hard enough for a man to lose their hair you know. I can assure you that. But for a woman and they’re 30 years old to go through it, for her to deal with it that way I think just is a testament. And it speaks volumes for who she is as a person.”

A Fun Little Head-Shaving Ceremony

And who is that person? A woman with a good sense of humor.

“We had a fun little head-shaving ceremony in Las Vegas,” Tami Agassi said. “It was a good way to lose it.”

In fact, Philip and Andre joined their sister and shaved their heads in the name of brotherhood — and sisterhood. “They went into the bathroom and they came out and surprised me with bald heads, but they didn’t have much to lose,” Tami Agassi said. “I definitely had a lot to lose in that ordeal. But it was a sweet gesture,” she said.

Just six months later, their mother, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with the very same disease. Like her daughter, Tami, she faced a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

“I flew out to Las Vegas and slept with her in the hospital room, and just took care of her,” Tami Agassi said. “Which she did for me when I went through it.”