Andre Agassi will make his professional pickleball debut next week when he teams up with one of the finest players to ever play the sport. The tennis icon will partner current world No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters as the duo attempt to clinch victory in the mixed doubles at the US Open Pickleball Championships.
Agassi enjoyed a stellar career in tennis and won eight Grand Slam titles between 1992 and 2003. The 54-year-old won his first Major after getting the better of Goran Ivanisevic in the showpiece match at Wimbledon, with his final triumph on the biggest platform coming courtesy of a comprehensive victory over Rainer Schuttler at the Australian Open. He completed the Career Grand Slam in 1999 after overcoming a two-set deficit to defeat Andrei Medvedev at the French Open.
Agassi’s first pickleball match alongside Waters is expected to be played on April 30 and will be screened live on CBS Sports Network.
The American, who retired from tennis in 2006, has already featured in a string of pickleball exhibition events and will be eyeing up the title alongside his talented partner.
Ahead of the US Open Pickleball Championships, Agassi joked: “It was very apparent that Anna Leigh was very tired of winning. She wanted to add a little spice to her life and make it quite the difficult challenge.”
The former tennis ace then added: “She’s right up there with the greatest ever in what she does and the idea of challenging myself to not screw things up for her is daunting.”
Waters, who turned professional at the age of 12, is widely regarded as the best women’s pickleball player of all-time, despite the fact she is still only 18 years old.
The teenager has already won 148 Professional Pickleball Association titles or golds and is ranked at No. 1 in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She is also the highest earner of all male and female players in the sport.
Waters, meanwhile, who tried out tennis and football before committing to pickleball, explained: “Honestly, I didn’t fall in love with tennis like I fell in love with pickleball.
“When I’d go play a tennis tournament, I felt that the girls and their parents were a little too… I don’t want to say mean, but super intense, at such a young age. And in south Florida, it’s super competitive in tennis.”
She added: “I went and played my first pickleball tournament and I had so much fun. I was good at it and I was having fun so as a 10 or 11-year-old you want to do what you know is fun. And I was able to do it with my mum so that was even more special.”