Andre Agassi Says He Embarrassed Himself While Playing Against Simona Halep
Tennis legend Andre Agassi recently found himself caught between two sports during an exhibition match in Romania, where he teamed up with Steffi Graf to play against Simona Halep and Andrei Pavel. In a recent candid interview, Agassi recalled how leading up to an exhibition tennis event, he had been playing a lot of pickleball and why it ended up getting him embarrassed while playing against Halep.
“Me and Steffi played against Simona and Andrei Pavel in Romania. I was sort of on the right side, you know deuce side of the court in tennis and she was like on the left side of the court, or ad court, so like she runs around a ball and she has a forehand and I know I'm baiting her to pull it, right?” recalls Agassi.
One key difference between pickleball and tennis: the absence of topspin. In pickleball, shots are generally flatter and rely less on wrist movement, something Agassi had grown accustomed to in the weeks leading up to the match. In tennis, however, especially at the elite level, rolling the wrist to generate topspin is essential to get the ball down in time.
Because of his adjusted mechanics from pickleball, Agassi found himself hitting a flat shot straight at Halep’s feet rather than executing the topspin-heavy return he intended.
“And I know she's going to do it,” Agassi continued. “She buries one on me but I'm on it, I stick my racquet out and try to roll it back- to her feet. I mean I read the whole play, the only thing I got wrong was just the basic fundamentals of executing proper shots (rolling the wrist).”
“And I looked at her and she looked at me and she was like- 'what were you trying to do?' I was like-too much to explain here,” says Agassi with a laugh.
Andre Agassi who partnered with Anna Leigh to compete at the US Open Pickleball Championships, bowed out in the second round after an exciting first round victory.
