Andre Agassi's pro pickleball debut ends after 2 matches at US Open Pickleball Championships
Andre Agassi and Anna Leigh Waters‘ partnership at the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples lasted just two matches. After winning their first mixed pro doubles match at noon on April 30, they dropped the nightcap.
The tennis legend and the No. 1-ranked female pickleball player in the world fell to Len Yang and Trang Huynh-McClain in three sets, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, in a match that started at 6:30 p.m.
Huynh-McClain, 31, from Buena Park, Calif., entered the tournament having played in 79 previous matches but is making her US Open debut, while Yang from Fuzhou, Fujian, China, entered the tournament with just 10 career matches after converting from a table tennis player.
“I’m really excited,” Huynh-McClain said on the YouTube Pickleball Channel. “Andre Agassi was my growing up idol. So it’s really phenomenal. I did say in the beginning of the tournament, I wish I could play them in mixed so it came true and really fun playing with Len. And he just did a phenomenal job. And I’m happy that we went out with a win.”
McClain and Yang struggled early, allowing three points on errors as Agassi and Waters went up 5-0 and eventually 9-1. McClain and Yang settled down and pulled within 9-7 before an Agassi winner got the side out, and Waters scored the next two points to take the first set 11-7.
McClain and Yang dominated the second set, going up 5-1. Agassi and Waters closed within 5-4, but wouldn’t win another point in losing 11-4.
McClain and Yang jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the third set as Agassi had trouble with his serves and hit several balls long. But Waters and Agassi settled in pulled within 8-7, the seventh point being a big kill from Agassi. But that was it as McClain and Yang ran the table from there, with the final point being an Agassi shot into the net.
Agassi and Waters had a tough time in their first match but prevailed as they were pushed to three games by the unheralded teenage tandem of 16-year-old Tristan Dussault and 13-year-old Stevie Petrpouleas in an 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 victory.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Andre Agassi loses second match at US Open Pickleball Championships with Anna Lehigh Waters
