"Tennis needs to be on major networks" - Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert on what the sport needs to reach "next level"

Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert, who is currently working with Coco Gauff, has stressed the need for tennis to be on network television.

Gilbert spoke at length about Saudi Arabia's reported $2 billion takeover bid that aims to merge the ATP and WTA Tours. The legendary coach believes that the bid, if accepted, will have positive effects on tennis in the long run. However, he is of the opinion that the sport can only grow if it gets network television coverage.

The 62-year-old compared tennis' situation to golf's Gilbert and said that important events on the PGA Tour have widespread television coverage. However, he pointed out that the same is not the case for tennis with the exception of Grand Slams.

"The biggest difference between golf and tennis is every weekend, when there's a major golf tournament, especially on the PGA Tour, it's on network television," Gilbert said in an interview with CNBC (1:03).

Gilbert went on to talk about the television coverage of the ongoing BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. He pointed out that the prestigious tournament is being broadcast only on Tennis Channel, which lacks volume in terms of cable subscription.

"So right now, this tournament (Indian Wells) has an exclusive in the (United) States only on Tennis Channel, which doesn't have a massive cable subscription. It's a good channel, but they don't pay any TV rights to be on right now. So that's something that in the near future needs to happen," Gilbert added.

The American coach also said that the BNP Paribas Open and the upcoming Miami Open need more visibility on mainstream television. This, according to him, will make tennis more popular.

"Tennis needs to be.. big tournaments, especially in Indian Wells, Miami next week, needs to be on major networks to take tennis to the next level where it deserves to be in my humble opinion," he said.

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Andre Agassi recently shared a warm embrace with Karen Khachanov in Los Angeles

Andre Agassi at The Netflix Slam's Media Availability event

Andre Agassi recently attended a dinner event ahead of a charity match at UCLA's Los Angeles Tennis Center. Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov were the stars of the match. Its proceeds went to ethnic Armenians who had fled from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During the dinner event, Khachanov and Agassi were spotted conversing. The Russian later shared a photo of himself and Agassi sharing a warm embrace. Khachanov's social media post also featured the caption:

"From little Armenia with love ❤️🇦🇲 Thanks for coming and support the event! @agassi 🤝"

Agassi, whose father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage, is widely regarded as one of the best male tennis players in history. The now 53-year-old hung up his racquet in 2006 after winning 60 singles titles, including eight Majors.