He was meant to stay for only three months, because that was all his father could afford. When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book Open. Īt the age of 12, Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner, Roddy Parks, won the 1982 National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago. Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas, had met Kerkorian in 1963. Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian American billionaire. He has three older siblings – Rita (last wife of former number one Pancho Gonzales), Philip and Tami. Andre Agassi's mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor. His father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage. Early life Īndre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel 'Mike' Agassi (Aghassian), a former Olympic boxer from Iran, and American Elizabeth 'Betty' Agassi (née Dudley). He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001. 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 is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. Īfter suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis ( vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname 'The Punisher'. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995, but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. He also won 17 Masters titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 19. Īgassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces ( hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003). He is also the first of two men to achieve the career Golden Slam (career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal), as well as the only man to win a career Super Slam (career Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal and the year-end championships). Īgassi is the second of five men to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open Era and the fifth of eight overall to make the achievement. Agassi is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Andre Kirk Agassi ( / ˈ æ ɡ ə s i/ AG-ə-see born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No.

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