Lost a set to Andre Agassi in 22 minutes despite "trying my a** off", recalls Mark Petchey
Mark Petchey recalled the time he faced Andre Agassi and lost a set to the American tennis great within 22 minutes. Petchey also revealed some advice that Stefan Edberg had given him before the match and how Agassi rendered Petchey's plans useless.
Petchey faced Agassi in the second round of the 1994 Miami Open. While the former player-turned-commentator fought hard, he lost to Agassi in three sets. He recently remembered how convincingly he lost the opening set in 22 minutes, reacting to Viktoriya Tomova losing a set in just 23 minutes in the Madrid Open qualifiers on Tuesday.
Petchey recalled that despite being wary of Andre Agassi's lob based on advice from Edberg, he still could not counter the shot and lost the set convincingly despite trying extremely hard.
"I lost one in 22. Just ask Agassi and I was trying my ass off. Edberg told me to watch out for the lob. Two whistled over my head in my opening game," Mark Petchey wrote on Twitter.
He then joked that Edberg would have been disappointed to see his performance on the day.
"All I could think of as I was broken was how disappointed Stefan must be in my ability to do the basics," Petchey added.
@TheTennisTalker I lost one in 22. Just ask Agassi and I was trying my ass off. Edberg told me to watch out for the lob. Two whistled over my head in my opening game. All I could think of as I was broken was how disappointed Stefan must be in my ability to do the basics 😂
Agassi, who started working under coach Brad Gilbert in the 1994 season, won the US Open later that season as an unseeded player.
Andy Roddick feels Pickleball Slam was a "fun excuse" to reconnect with Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi recently teamed up with Andy Roddick during a pickleball exhibition event -- the Pickleball Slam. The duo were also joined by John McEnroe and Michael Chang. Agassi and Roddick beat McEnroe and Chang to win the $1 million prize purse, and while Roddick was thrilled to win the big prize, he was particularly happy about getting the opportunity to spend time with Agassi.
Roddick called it a "fun excuse" to reconnect with the 8-time Grand Slam singles champion.
"What has been pretty fun is getting the daily analysis from Andre Agassi and his breakdowns of what he's learned, what's working for him, what we should do," Roddick told PEOPLE magazine. "It's been kind of a fun excuse to reconnect almost on a daily basis now."
Agassi's wife and 22-time Grand Slam singles champion Steffi Graf was also in attendance during the Pickleball Slam. Agassi has taken a liking to the racquet sport and expressed his desire to continue playing pickleball.