Agassi adds World Team Tennis to busy portfolio
Tennis newsAndre Agassi is making a return to competition starting with the American-based World Team Tennis next month.
The 39-year-old Agassi will play two league matches for the Philadelphia Freedoms in July before moving on to additional tournaments this year.
Its been a few years since Ive sort of been connected with the game in any direct kind of way, and thats been a little unsettling for me, he said on Wednesday. I took time away when I retired to try to figure out how I can best engage with the game and do it in a way that made the most sense, or where I could possibly have some more impact.
And that has not been so easy, with all of my responsibilities, to sort of figure out.
Agassi won eight major singles championships and was one of only five men to complete a career Grand Slam when he retired after the 2006 U.S. Open, though Roger Federer has since become the sixth. Agassi has devoted himself to humanitarian causes for the past three years, opening a tuition-free charter school for children and a Boys Girls Club that promotes athletics and education.
His career earnings and endorsement money allowed him to enjoy the kind of lifestyle where he could extend the time and resources needed to his charitable causes. Agassi has an admitted soft spot for children and recently spoke at the commencement for the inaugural graduating class of the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas. He said all 34 graduates of the public charter school will attend a two- or four-year college.
Retirement did more than give Agassi a sense of an almost normal life. It gave him a platform to advocate change and awareness in the educational system.
I never necessarily cared about how many people saw what I did, he said. I just cared about what it is I did, and thats what Im doing now. My foundation takes up most of my time. My family obviously is my first priority.
Agassi, bothered by back pain in his final U.S. Open, wants to make tennis a priority again. He and wife Steffi Graf played in some exhibitions under Wimbledons new Centre Court roof last month, but the closest hes come to whacking balls on a court is with his kids or Graf.
Tennis was a bit of a missing piece, he said. Its a sport that Ive played my whole life and there are people that Ive known my whole life, and theres things that still can be done in it.
I just feel really motivated to be good to a game that has been good to me.
After his stint in WTT, hell participate in the 30-and-over Outback Champions Series in October.
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 8:15 pm and is filed under Tennis news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
