Andre Agassi is no doubt one of the most gifted American products in tennis history.
He is a pioneer and a legend. He is the kind of man you'd name a city after.
Andre, though retired, still commands enough force towards himself….
I mean you did click on this YouTube video, didn't you?
The former world no. 1 and former coach of Novak Djokovic,
still continues to make headlines and it's even harder to avoid him when
he's married to yet another incredible force in the tennis world, Steffi Graf.
But before we meet Andre's wife, we have included one wrong fact in this video. So
stick to the end to see if you can find it and comment below what you think the wrong fact is,
and whoever guesses right will get a shoutout on our next video.
Alright…..let's meet Andre's wife.
WIFE- STEFFI GRAF
Before the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova began making and breaking records,
Graf had already had her name forever engraved in the history books. For example,
in 1988 she became the first tennis professional to win the golden slam
by winning all four grand slam singles titles and the Olympic Gold Medal in the same calendar year.
She is of German descent and was born Stefanie Maria Graf on June 14
1969 in the city of Mannheim, West Germany to father Peter Graf and mother Heidi Schalk.
She was first introduced to tennis at three years of age by her father
who was an aspiring tennis coach at the time. She began practicing on a real court at age
4 and even became a tournament contender as little as 5 years old.
She had a successful young career, and developed into a super teenage and adult professional.
One of the qualities that really set Graf apart from her contemporaries, was her sophisticated
footwork carried about with her amazing speed and her powerful inside-out forehand. She was also
feared for her fast service which is recorded as one of the fastest in tennis history at 174 km/h.
With all her amazing qualities, she was able to become the only tennis player,
both male and female, to win the grand slam on all three surfaces in one calendar year
and win all grand slam titles at least four times.
Another legend who was her rival, Chris Evert couldn't help it when she said:
"Steffi Graf is the best all-around player. Martina [Navratilova] won more on fast courts
and I won more on slow courts, but Steffi came along and won more titles on both surfaces."
Another tennis legend that was awestruck by Stefi was Andre Agassi
who has wrote in his autobiography book that:
"I was thunderstruck, dazzled by her understated grace, her effortless
beauty ... I tried to get a message to her after [1991's] French Open, but she didn't respond,"
At this time, Agassi was still in a relationship with Wendi Stewart;
a relationship that spanned between 1991 and 1993.
But he was also in a relationship with Barbara Streisand,
who was 28 years his senior between 1992 and 1993.
Barbara was an American entertainer and singer whose romantic association with the tennis star
had raised a lot of eyebrows which the tennis star had dismissed in his autobiography saying:
"We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older?
We're sympatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection.
It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo – another piece
of my overall rebellion. Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava."
Anyways Andre was heartbroken for not receiving a reply text from Stefi,
but fortunately for the lovestruck tennis star, he got the chance to meet his crush
the following year in 1992 after they both won in the Wimbledon tournament.
There was supposed to be a dance between the male and female athletes after the tournament,
which Andre was excited about since he knew he would get a chance to dance with his crush.
However, Stefi had canceled her dance with the organizers
and she and Agassi settled for a photo together and an awkward chit-chat.
Agassi recalls in his book that:
"I say, 'I'd really love to talk with you some time'. She doesn't respond. She merely smiles,
an enigmatic smile, and I can't tell if she's happy about what I've just said, or nervous,"
Since Stefi was still married at the time, it wasn't until several years later that
they reconnected again at the French Open in 1999, and got married in Las Vegas on October 22nd 2005
in a marriage that included only the couple and their mothers.
Years later, Andre admitted in an interview with Forbes India
that marrying Stefi was his highest point, stating that:
""She was the hardest to win… when Steffi Graf says yes, it's as close to arriving."
The two are still together after 20 years of marriage and since their retirement, have indulged
in mostly philanthropy and nonprofit work, with the occasional charity games they have to play…
They are blessed with two children…
KIDS
Son, Jaden Gil was born in 2001 and daughter Jaz Ell, came in two years later.
Agassi and Graf had declared that they would allow their children to do whatever they like
and would not force them into becoming tennis players like themselves.
In an interview, Andre Agassi had stated:
"We just wanted our children to choose as they see
fit and to then make sure their days reflect the things they claim to care about,'
In his book, Andre had even admitted that tennis is the loneliest of sports and with his wife,
they had never really encouraged their kids to pick up a tennis racquet.
Instead, his son picked up a baseball bat and has been dedicated to the game ever since.
His father had confirmed this when he said:
"When he was five, he picked up a baseball and has not let go of it since,”
Jaden has been playing at the University of Southern California(USC) for the Trojans in
Los Angeles, California. And he might even make it to the Major League Baseball(MLB)
because when his coach Evan Greusel said of him that he has:
"excellent hand-eye coordination and extraordinary abilities as a pitcher and as a batter”.....
…..One can conclude that the young Agassi is talented. But we will see how it goes.
For Agassi's daughter, Jaz Elle, the story about her life is pretty low key
and little is known about her.
Anyway, before Agassi became a father, he was himself a kid to someone and went through all
the years as a toddler, an adolescent, a teenager and then the adult we see today.
In that case, let us meet the special parents
that brought Andre into the world and made him the man he is today.
PARENTS
Andre Kirk Agassi was born on April 29 1970 in Las Vegas,
Nevada to father Emmanuel Mike Agassi and mother, Elizabeth Betty Agassi.
Elizabeth Betty Agassi
Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Dudley
but not much is known about her early life or even her date of birth
But we know that she's a survivor of breast cancer and her experience had inspired her
son Andre to open a foundation that helped those battling with cancer.
And finally we know she was married to Emmanuel Mike Agassi.
Emmanuel Mike Agassi
Emmanuel Mike Agassi was born on December 25 1930 in Salmas, Pahlavi Iran to a father
who was Ukrainian Armenian and a mother who was Armenian from the Ottoman Empire.
His original surname was Aghassian but to avoid Ottoman persecution, it was changed to Agassi.
He had been raised in a Christian household and was exposed to tennis by American and British
servicemen. But he would represent his country
as a boxer before delving into the game of tennis, but only as a coach.
Emmanuel Agassi was an Olympic boxer from Iran who represented his country in the 1948
and 1952 summer Olympics wherein he lost both times in the first rounds.
After exiting the Olympics, he left with his brother, Samuel,
in October 1952 to Chicago. On getting there, he changed his name to Mike Agassi
and soon after graduated from the University of Roosevelt, before meeting Elizabeth Dudley.
They were wedded in a Methodist Church on August 19 1959.
The couple had three kids, Rita, Tami and Philip before they had Andre in 1970.
Mike described his first three kids as guinea pigs who he used to experiment
and develop the methods he used to turn Andre into a world class tennis player.
And he was really hard on his kids; to the point that in 1984, his daughter,
Rita having rebelled against his 5000-balls-a-day regimen,
went ahead to marry former world no.1 tennis player Ricardo Pancho Gonzalez.
Andre Agassi wasn't a rebel of the game himself. And when he was 13 years old,
his father sent him to Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy
in Florida to learn for three months because that was all he could afford.
But fortunately for him, after Bolletteri watched the kid hit the tennis ball for thirty minutes,
he was impressed and called the father to say:
"Take your check back. He's here for free."
Soon after, Andre dropped out of school and focused on tennis full time,
turning pro at the age of 16.
Though Agassi didn't have much of an education,
he is no doubt intelligent; his autobiography, Open: An Autobiography speaks a lot of
volume in terms of the richness of knowledge and insight packed within.
Andre also recalls that his father was tough on him and he actually wished he had retired sooner.
Speaking about his father in one of his interviews, he had said:
“My father yells everything twice, sometimes three times, sometimes 10. Harder, he says,
harder. Hit earlier. Damn it Andre, hit earlier, Crowd the ball, crowd the ball.
Now he’s crowding me. He’s yelling. It’s not enough to hit everything the dragon fires at me:
my father wants me to hit harder and faster than the dragon. He wants me to beat the dragon.”
Many have called his father abusive but he has defended him saying:
“When people didn’t have my nuanced take on him they just represented him as abusive.
But my dad was clear. He said: ‘Andre, I know how I’ve lived and I know who I am and who I’m
not. If I could do everything all over again I would change only one thing – I wouldn’t
let you play tennis.’ I’d pulled the car over when he said: ‘I would only change one thing.’
I said, ‘Wow, why’s that Dad?’ He said: ‘Because I’d make you play baseball or golf so you can do
it longer and make more money.’ I got back on the freeway with a chuckle.”
His father later died at the age of 90 on September 24, 2021.
Andre Agassi still remains a very relevant part of the world of sport and even outside.
He will forever inspire a lot of people to play tennis even though he didn't want it himself.
And finally, his impact on education and the fight
against cancer has helped and still continues to help thousands of lives.