"Andre Agassi is incredibly authentic...like he's speaking into your soul; The fact that he's back in tennis space is a massive win": Tennis presenter

S Shahi
Tennis presenter describes meeting with tennis legend Andre Agassi during USTA
Tennis presenter describes meeting with tennis legend Andre Agassi during USTA's annual meeting

Tennis presenter Blair Henley recently had the unique opportunity to host a sit-down with tennis legend Andre Agassi at the USTA’s annual meeting in Orlando.

Agassi, a former World No. 1, is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The American's significant achievements include winning eight Major singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, and 60 ATP titles.

Agassi was the second of five men to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open Era. He also became the first of two men to attain the career Golden Slam and the only one to secure a career Super Slam.

In a recent episode of the Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, Henley shared her experience of hosting the tennis legend. Henley described Agassi as "warm and lovely," and praised his storytelling abilities.

"Just really warm and lovely. And he's like, listen, if I go on too long, just kick me. Just let me know that we need to move on to a question. But I didn't have to do much because he is a great storyteller," Henley said.

Henley noted the former World No. 1's ability to connect individually with each person in the room, despite the presence of hundreds of attendees.

"He's [Andre Agassi] incredibly authentic is probably the word that I would use. It's like he's connecting with you individually. There were probably, I don't know, 500-ish people in the room. And it's just like he's speaking into your soul," Henley said.
"This is the kind of person I need to give me a pep talk before I'm about to do something nerve-wracking or challenging because he just in a calm way, is able to do it. He's able to communicate on almost an individual level with people, even though it's this massive room with hundreds of people. So an incredible experience," she added.

This year, Agassi made appearances at several tennis events, with the most high-profile being the Australian Open, where he had the honor of presenting the men’s singles trophy at the Rod Laver Arena on the opening day. Beyond tennis, Agassi also won the Pickleball Slam 2 alongside his wife, Steffi Graf.

Now, the duo is gearing up to take part in an exhibition match at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, scheduled for June 15.

According to Henley, Agassi's return to the tennis world is a "massive win," not just for tennis, but potentially for pickleball as well.

"And I think the fact that he is back in the tennis space is a massive win for tennis and also perhaps pickleball, but mostly tennis," she said.

"Anytime there's a chance to hang with Andre Agassi, I'm pumped" - Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi at the 2012 US Open
Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi at the 2012 US Open

Andy Roddick discussed teaming up with Andre Agassi in the commentary booth at the Netflix Slam exhibition, where Carlos Alcaraz defeated compatriot Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas.

Reflecting on the experience in an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the American shared his excitement about spending time with Andre Agassi, joking that getting paid for it made the experience even better.

"For me it's like, anytime there's a chance to hang out with Andre, I'm pumped. And if I'm getting paid for it, even better, you know? But it was really fun. I really enjoyed it," he said (at 24:10).
youtube-cover

What are Andre Agassi-Steffi Graf’s children doing now? Everything to know about Jaz & Jaden Agassi

Quick Links