© Getty Images Sport – Gary Prior
Andre Agassi jokes watching tennis from the comfort of his home is a much more enjoyable experience than “having the worst seat in the stadium” – which was typically facing Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Agassi, a former eight-time Grand Slam champion, had an iconic rivalry with fellow American tennis legend Sampras.
Against Sampras, Agassi won 14 of their 34 meetings. On the other side, Agassi won his first three matches against Federer between 1998 and 2002. Then, Federer won all of their eight last meetings between 2002 and 2005. Agassi, 53, retired from pro tennis after the 2006 US Open.
Agassi still follows tennis, recounts his rivalries with Sampras, Federer
“I can say it’s a lot more enjoyable from my living room than it is from the worst seat in the stadium, which was typically against Pete or Roger.
There’s so much fun tied to the life it’s given me. Yes I do follow it… I’m a student of the game, you know. I don’t know if I consider myself an overachiever or an underachiever because I spent so much time thinking ’bout how to make myself better.
And I spent too much time wasting years of my career, right? So, but when it comes to the mathematics of the game, the dynamics, the matchups, I turn on any match, immediately I just fall right into it,” Agassi said on The Pat McAfee Show.
Nowadays, Agassi is getting more and more involved in pickleball. In 2024 February, Agassi and his wife – tennis legend Steffi Graf – will be clashing against John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova at the Pickleball Slam in Florida. “I mean, it’s [tennis] given me the chance to freakin’ play pickleball and get paid to do it and take that money away from John McEnroe at the same time,” Agassi reflected.
