Napoli, Fla. — Andre Agassi has collected two of eight Grand Slam tennis titles at the US Open and will now compete in another racket event under that name.
Agassi, who retired from professional tennis in 2006 after playing his final game with the Flushing Meadows, will be alongside teenager Annally Waters at the Mixed Pro Division of the US Open Pickleball Championship, held next week in Napoli, Florida.
Agassi, who turns 55 next week, will be attending a TV pickleball exhibition with other former tennis players and will be able to see him pitching his pickleball gear through social media. This will be his first professional pickleball look.
He won the Tennis US Open in 1994 and 1999, completing his career grand slam by winning at least one championship in each major in the sport, and in 2011 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Agassi would become a studio analyst at TNT Sports in the semi-finals and finals at this year’s French Open.
Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong using paddles and wiffleballs. In just a few years, he has become more than 13 million players from almost any distance in the US.