Andre Agassi
American tennis player, career Golden Slam winner.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He spent 101 weeks as the world No. 1 in men's singles according to the ATP, finishing 1999 as the year-end top player. His career includes 60 ATP Tour-level singles titles, eight major championships, an Olympic gold medal, the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships, and 17 Masters titles. He also contributed to United States Davis Cup victories in 1990, 1992, and 1995. Agassi is among only nine men to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles and one of three to complete a career Golden Slam.
A teenage prodigy, Agassi reached several major finals before capturing his first at Wimbledon in 1992. After surgery caused his ranking to slip, he rebounded to win the 1994 US Open and the 1995 Australian Open, claiming the world No. 1 spot for the first time. Personal struggles in the mid-to-late 1990s followed, and despite winning Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games, his ranking fell to as low as No. 141 in 1997. Many assumed his elite career was finished. However, after adopting a strict training regimen, Agassi experienced his most successful stretch. He returned to No. 1 in 1999 after completing the career Golden Slam at the French Open, and during this later phase added another US Open title and three Australian Open titles. He continued competing into the 2000s, retiring after the 2006 US Open.
Agassi is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players ever. He was the first man to win all four major singles titles on three different surfaces—hard, clay, and grass—and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (1999) and the Australian Open (2003). Over his 20-plus-year career, he earned the nickname "the Punisher" for his exceptional return of serve. Off the court, he founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter school for at-risk children. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001.
**Early life**
Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (born Aghasi) and Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (born Dudley). His father, a former Olympic boxer and casino worker, was of Armenian descent from Tehran, Iran; his mother was America
- born
- April 29, 1970
- field
- Tennis
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Career Golden Slam, eight major singles titles, world No. 1 ranking
Lore & Background
Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel 'Mike' Agassi, a former Olympic boxer and casino worker of Armenian descent, and Elizabeth 'Betty' Agassi. He has three older siblings. At age 13, he was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida; after watching him play, Bollettieri waived the fee. Agassi dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue tennis full-time.
Agassi turned professional at 16. He won his first top-level singles title in 1987 and reached the world No. 3 ranking by 1988. He won his first major at the 1992 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final. After a ranking drop due to surgery, he won the 1994 US Open and 1995 Australian Open to reach world No. 1 for the first time. Personal issues led to a decline to No. 141 in 1997, but he returned to No. 1 in 1999 after completing the career Golden Slam at the French Open. He retired after the 2006 US Open.
Outside tennis, Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada, and opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas in 2001. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001.
Reader's Guide
Andre Agassi is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was the first man to win all four singles majors across three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (1999) and the Australian Open (2003). His career spanned more than 20 years, during which he was known as 'the Punisher' due to his excellent return of serve. Agassi's comeback from a ranking of No. 141 in 1997 to world No. 1 in 1999 is a notable chapter in tennis history. His rivalry with Pete Sampras became the biggest rivalry in tennis over the decade following their 1990 US Open final. Agassi's legacy includes his charitable work and his role in popularizing tennis in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s.
Did You Know?
- Agassi is one of three men to complete the career Golden Slam in singles.
- He was the first man to win all four singles majors on hard, clay, and grass surfaces.
- Agassi's ranking dropped to No. 141 in 1997 before he returned to world No. 1 in 1999.
- He founded the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas in 2001.
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