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Andre Agassi recently expressed his excitement at the prospect of teaming up with Steffi Graf to take on John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova at the 2024 Pickleball Slam on February 4.
The second edition of Pickleball Slam will be played at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in South Florida, USA. The winners of the doubles exhibition will receive a whopping US $1 million in prize money. The event, in its entirety, will be broadcast by ESPN in the US.
Andre Agassi, who was also part of the inaugural Pickleball Slam earlier this year, is admittedly excited to take on his fellow American John McEnroe. Speaking on the "Pat McAfee Show", the eight-time Major winner said that he was grateful for his tennis background since he met his wife Steffi Graf through the sport.
He added that playing tennis also gave him a chance to play pickleball, jokingly insisting that he had no qualms about "taking that money" away from McEnroe.
"I'm more grateful for the game, it's given me a platform to change so many lives. It's given me a platform to meet my wife, my children, my family, I mean, it’s given me the chance to freakin' play pickleball and get paid to do it and take that money away from John McEnroe at the same time," he said on the Pat McAfee Show.
The 53-year-old added:
"So you're saying I can't lose, and you're saying whoever I play with [as coach], we're still going to beat John. I'm into this, okay yeah."
During the segment with Pat McAfee, an American sports analyst, it was also revealed that Jack Sock will be coaching Andre Agassi's team.
Andre Agassi and John McEnroe to resume rivalry at the second edition of the Pickleball Slam
Andre Agassi and John McEnroe were two of the best men's players of the last century. The two hot-headed Americans, however, met only four times on the ATP tour, since their prime years didn't overlap.
The head-to-head record between Agassi and McEnroe is at a 2-2 deadlock. The seven-time Major winner scored the first win of their rivalry at Stratton Mountain in 1986. His younger rival won their next match in Los Angeles in three comprehensive sets.
McEnroe won the third meeting of their rivalry at the 1989 WCT Finals, as Agassi was forced to retire while leading 6-4, 0-3. He, however, won their most important encounter in the semifinals of Wimbledon 1992, making quick work of "The Superbrat" to reach the championship match.
For the uninitiated, McEnroe and Agassi also faced off against each other at the Pickleball Slam in April this year. While the 64-year-old won their singles exhibition match at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel by a scoreline of 15-13, 16-14, he and Michael Chang dropped their doubles match against Agassi and Andy Roddick, 21-15, 21-23, 12-10, losing out on the $1 million prize money.
