NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Andre Agassi won his professional pickleball debut a day after turning 55, teaming with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters to defeat a pair of even younger teens 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday.
Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who retired from professional tennis in 2006. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years later.
He has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media.
Agassi will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports during the semifinals and finals at the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.
Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong that uses paddles and a wiffleball. It quickly rose from nearly nothing to more than 13 million players in the United States in just a few years.
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Andre Agassi wins his professional pickleball debut with partner Anna Leigh Waters
FILE - Andre Agassi of the U.S. kisses the trophy after he defeated Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 during the men's final tennis match at the French Open at Roland Garros stadium in Paris Sunday, June 6, 1999. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File) Photo: Associated Press
