Andre Agassi reveals if he prefers playing pickleball with or against wife Steffi Graf
Andre Agassi has revealed that he prefers playing pickleball with his wife Steffi Graf, rather than against her. The eight-time Grand Slam champion is spearheading the pickleball craze in the US and the rest of the world, and Graf, who won 22 Major singles titles, is right alongside him.
The couple founded Pickleball Slam, which had its third annual event in February. Pickleball Slam 3 pitted Agassi and Graf against US Open champion Andy Roddick and Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Agassi and Graf won the $1 million prize for the third consecutive year.
Agassi spoke to the Bad Calls Pickleball Podcast and discussed his new obsession with pickleball and his partnership with Graf. The two tennis icons have said that they don't like to play against each other, and Agassi talked about Graf's intensity:
"She's a gamer. If anything's important to her, then it's go time, she pulls it off. Me, I'm like, it's just - relax a little bit - so she's the real deal. We're having fun doing it together. We have to play on the same side. Not really against, unless the match up was (such) - so, you know, her level goes down when she plays against me.
And I'm like, I mean, she goes down, and I feel bad, it's like that bad, what do you call that when you enable somebody, spiral down as a couple, but we just start playing worse, but when we're together it's, like good." [40:30]
Andre Agassi added that Graf never liked playing doubles, even though she was a top doubles player. She won the 1988 Wimbledon doubles alongside Gabriela Sabatini.
"She always struggled with doubles, although she won a Slam in doubles, she struggled because she always worried about letting her partner down. She's totally in her own head, and that's how I am, so I don't get upset at her for something, I get upset at myself for something. So sometimes we can get negative, but collectively negative about ourselves," he said.
The duo married in 2021 and have two adult children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf had extraordinary tennis careers
At the height of his powers, Andre Agassi was one of tennis's all-time greats. He and Pete Sampras dominated the game in the 1990s and 2000s.
Agassi was an eight-time Grand Slam singles champion and was World No. 1 for 101 weeks. He also claimed 60 ATP tour titles. He is one of only five men to capture a career Grand Slam in singles and one of only three to win the Golden Slam.
Meanwhile, Steffi Graf is one of the greatest women's players. The German-born ace was World No. 1 for a staggering 377 weeks, which remains a record. Her 22 Grand Slam singles titles are second only to Serena Williams in the Open Era. Her quadruple career Grand Slam, winning all four Majors at least four times, is unmatched.