Andre Agassi, Anna Leigh Waters Crash Out of US Open Pickleball Championship After Rousing Debut
Andre Agassi’s first stab at pro pickleball is officially over.
The 55-year-old tennis icon and partner Anna Leigh Waters succumbed to Len Yang and Trang Huynh-McClain, 11-7, 4-11, 7-11, in their second match at the US Open Pickleball Championship to formally crash out of the prestigious tournament.
The loss comes on the heels of the pair’s opening match 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 victory over Stevie Petropouleas and Tristan Dussault in what was Agassi’s pro pickleball debut. Agassi and Waters competed at the mixed pro division of the US Open Pickleball Championship.
Falling in Love with Pickleball
Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam singles champion and has served as a de facto ambassador of pickleball, generally regarded as among the fastest-rising sports in the world today. The tennis icon regularly plays with his wife, fellow tennis great Steffi Graf, and has won celebrity competitions like Pickle Slam.
“He’s so good,” Graf told CNN Sports earlier this year. “And he’s played a little more, he’s physically so much stronger and quicker (than me). His sense for this game, how quickly he picked it up, was absolutely phenomenal to watch.
Ever since picking up the paddle, Agassi has shown the sport nothing but love, lauding it as a more accessible alternative to tennis, his first love, and saying it is “going to grow like you can’t even imagine.” Agassi also joined the JOOLA Legends Tour recently to help promote pickleball even more in Asia.
The tennis icon also had nothing but praise for his young partner, Waters, who is generally considered as the best female pickleball pro today.
“She’s right up there with the greatest ever in what she does and the idea of challenging myself to not screw things up for her is daunting,” Agassi said of 18-year-old no. 1-ranked player in the world, per Reuters.
What Does Agassi’s Pickleball Future Hold?
Given Agassi’s love for pickleball and natural talent for it, joining the pro ranks seemed inevitable. A win and a close loss later, it remains to be seen what Agassi’s future holds at the professional level—or if he will continue down this path, especially since he more than held his own. But if his previous interview with Reuters is any indication, it appears the 55-year-old pickler is leaning on being more of an enthusiast/ambassador rather than a full-time pro.
“If I had the luxury of bandwidth to focus all my energy on just playing and body recovery and all that stuff, that would be a joy. But I don’t. I’m in a different season now,” he told Reuters.
If that’s the case, Agassi’s stab at pro pickleball was fun while it lasted.
