Andre Agassi will make her professional debut in the pickleball with player 1 -year -old world 1 year old, Anna Leigh Waters.
Gracious Andre Agassi and Anna Leigh Waters.
The legend of tennis Andre Agassi joins the rows pro pickleball.
The former tennis player classified n ° 1 told CNBC that he would play his first professional tournament at the American Open US Pickleball Championships with the best classified player in the world, Anna Leigh Waters.
The tournament starts on Saturday in Naples, Florida, and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Agassi and Waters will play their first match on April 30 at noon he.
The idea of playing together came from 18 -year -old Waters, who was looking for a mixed partner for the largest pickleball tournament of the year. The US Open Counteributs Championships were founded in 2016 and attracts crowds as important as 50,000 fans each year.
Waters, who won more than $ 3 million by playing pickleball in 2024, according to Forbes, has become one of the largest and most marketable stars in sport.
“She probably has enough to win so much, and that is why she called me and asked me to play,” joked Agassi.
Waters said she had spotted Agassi in advance, watching videos playing pickleball on Youtube.
“We both tend to be mistaken on the aggressive side, and I think it works,” she said. “Andre’s goals are to develop the sport of pickleball, and that’s a huge goal. I thought that if we were associated, it would be a really great way to develop sport.”
Pickleball has taken off from the Pandemic COVID-19 and is today the fastest sport in the United States, increasing by 311% in the past three years, according to Sports and Fitness Industry Association. Pickleball players are now earning more money than the National Basketball Association Female and national players in the women’s football league, because sport has attracted major sponsors, media agreements and advertising dollars.
After many years dominating on the tennis court, Agassi said that he had caught the pickleball bug and fell in love with the social and inclusive nature of sport.
He has traveled the world to help promote sport thanks to its partnership with Joola, a manufacturer of pickleball equipment. Agassi also serves as an inaugural president of the Life Time pickleball and tennis council.
As for his long -term pickleball plans, Agassi said he did not expect him to join the major league pickleball or the PPA tour immediately.
“If I had the luxury of the bandwidth to concentrate all my energy on the simple game and the recovery of the body and all that would be a joy. But I do not do it,” he said. “I’m in a different season now.”
