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NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 17, 2009

Andre Agassi

THE MODERATOR: A man that needs no introduction, Andre Agassi. Playing for the Philadelphia Freedoms here against the Breakers. Andre, do you want to give us an opening comment?
ANDRE AGASSI: Not really (laughter).
THE MODERATOR: History of playing tennis in Orange County? Junior events, anything?
ANDRE AGASSI: Not this far south. I played down in (indiscernible) Field a couple times in San Diego, but never sort of this part of God's country.
THE MODERATOR: First time ever playing in Orange County?
ANDRE AGASSI: Yes, aside from practicing, I would say that's the case, unless there's something I've forgotten.

Q. Is your playing World TeamTennis kind of tiptoeing back into tennis or is it just for exercise? Why do this and why do it now?
ANDRE AGASSI: The first reason why I'm playing World TeamTennis is because of Billie Jean. The short answer is she asked me. The long answer is I have a great deal of respect for her contributions to tennis, to sports, to anybody who has a daughter, anybody who has a mother. She has changed the landscape for all of us.
I forgot how competitive it is. I thought it would just be pretty easy, play five games, you get to sit down. But it's highly competitive. It's a difficult way to tiptoe back into it. But I have no aspirations for competitive tennis. But it is fun to see a lot of old friends.

Q. Have you been swinging a lot?
ANDRE AGASSI: I've been knocking the ball around, walking that line between just enough and not too much. Negotiating your body becomes more of a challenge. The less you do it, the more careful you have to be sort of as you prepare and get back into it.
Been holding up okay.

Q. Been comfortable playing?
ANDRE AGASSI: It's been comfortable at times. I mean, the two sides that are tough, the difficult part of it is partly physical, meaning I'm pretty sore the next day, but the other part is understanding yourself differently as a different player. You have to get to know yourself all over again. Tennis is all about educated decisions. Those decisions are based on what kind of court you're giving up and how well you can close the gap.
When you used to look at a distance and think, This is where I want to be, you realize it isn't where you want to be. That's been a bit of a challenge. But I'm figuring it out. I have a quick learning curve.

Q. Did you play any doubles today?
ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah, they're throwing me right in the fire, doubles, mixed.

Q. And singles?
ANDRE AGASSI: And singles. It's exciting stuff, isn't it?

Q. You're scheduled to be honored at the US Open for your charitable work. Can you talk about that. I also understand the first graduating class from your charter school in Las Vegas graduated. Can you talk about the pride you must have felt in seeing that come to fruition.
ANDRE AGASSI: That was quite an incredible experience June 12th this year because we have 34 seniors. All 34 are going to college. They all graduated. 27 are going to four-year colleges and 7 are going to two-year colleges. The whole idea of the charter school that we -- the economic challenge in Las Vegas was to give resources, be accountable with the resources, and give that opportunity to the children that society has written off.
It's a bit of a laboratory, a bit of an experiment. So to see that graduating class was quite an emotional experience for me. It's like letting go of your own children in many respects, watching them fly off to college, go on with their lives, and hopefully return. I think that will be our clear definition of success, when they come back to our community.
As far as the Open goes, I've looked at ways now for a period of time to reengage with the game. It hasn't been quite as easy. I've been so consumed with my foundation work and other things. But they reached out to me to see if we could come up with a way for me to participate in the festivities. I said, I just can't say no to that. They've been such an important part of my life.
My last memory on the tennis court was possibly the greatest memory I've ever had in my life, except for the birth of my children. To go back and celebrate what's been accomplished in this little neighborhood in Las Vegas I think is a privilege for me.

Q. Any chance of Steffi maybe coming out and playing WTT?
ANDRE AGASSI: We have to keep the family life balanced. When I go through the stress of trying to get ready, I need somebody with a little perspective. So if we're both sort of trying to get ready, we can quickly bring each other down. Maybe when I don't, she might.
She loves doing it. She's done it before. It's always a possibility.

Q. Do you plan to come back next year to play?
ANDRE AGASSI: As far as tennis goes, I haven't thought that far ahead. If I can come out here and make a difference and people have fun as a result of it, I get to see a lot of old friends, get to connect with a game that's been very kind to me, then that's a win across the board.
This is a great environment to do it.

Q. Curious about your thoughts on the U.S. men in terms of rankings in the world. Other than Roddick, James Blake is 17, why aren't there more U.S. men in the top 25?
ANDRE AGASSI: Well, I think it's tough to point to one particular reason. Everything goes through cycles. We've seen it with all Federations in the world. Spain had a number of players in the top 10, France, Sweden a number of decades ago. So it does move around.
We've been blessed with a number of generations now in America. It's very competitive internationally - probably more so now than ever.
But the truth is we have a huge population here. We have to figure out a way to get the racquet in more children's hands. Our sport, unlike most sports, when a child starts at a young age, they tend to stay with the game. You see in soccer the kids play the game. By the time they're 10 or 12, they start to do something else. They play baseball, then they start to do something else. But tennis, if they start it, they stay with it. That's an encouraging fact.
But we need grassroots. I think the WTT is just another example of what I think they're contributing. They're really allowing these young kids to understand the game at the level that they encounter it with the QuickStart program, they're starting to get these children at a young age to play on a smaller court with bigger tennis balls, smaller racquets, which is a way for a child to get their arms around the joy of playing. As they get older, the court gets bigger and things start to get better.
When you start a child on a court this size, you give them a racquet, it's quite daunting, and daunting for the parents, too. Unless the parents play, they can't go play with their children. But with a program like QuickStart, they can. I think WTT is not just supporting that, they're actually implementing it, encouraging these young kids to pick up the game.

Q. Do your kids play?
ANDRE AGASSI: My daughter does. She plays about three or four times a week.

Q. How old is she now?
ANDRE AGASSI: She's five. And my son is entrenched in baseball.

Q. How old is she?
ANDRE AGASSI: He's seven.

Q. Does he play a position?
ANDRE AGASSI: At the rookie age, they rotate positions to learn the game. But this fall he'll be designated in a set position. There will be tryouts, all sorts of stuff, to see where he can best help out the ballclub.

Q. This is your first year in WTT or you played it before?
ANDRE AGASSI: I played it before, 2002 maybe, 2004. I played it a few times over a few years.

Q. I imagine Billie Jean came to you in the late '90s and asked you to keep playing year after year?
ANDRE AGASSI: Yeah. We come to each other for a lot of things. There's a real mutual respect for our contributions in different areas.

Q. Is it difficult for the mind to tell the body to go after that let serve when you're serving?
ANDRE AGASSI: My mind is great. My mind says, Run! It is. It takes a little adjusting 'cause you're instinct is, Thank God, it hit the net. But it's that switch, that reaction. Sometimes if you pause for a second, it's already too late.

Q. What did you think of Roddick's performance at Wimbledon?
ANDRE AGASSI: I was really proud of him and for him. I mean, first of all, in the biggest of occasions, he brought the best he could possibly bring to the table, which always earns a level of respect. For him to have lost that second set, I thought for sure that disappointment would cause his level to drop either psychologically or just physically. And when he pushed through in that third set, and the fourth, he just kept raising that standard, you just can't help but respect anybody in sports that addresses obstacles that way.
It was a crime that he lost. I mean, really he could have won all of those sets. He should have won at least four of them. Had three breakpoints in one game deep in the fifth, 15-40. He seemed to believe. It seemed to be destiny in some respect.
Tennis can be cruel. But then you look at the other side of the coin and you see what Roger accomplished, and you realize how special that is for the game, how special it is to be able to see that happen in your lifetime. It was a win for the sport of tennis.

Q. How do you think he'll come back from that?
ANDRE AGASSI: How he should come back from it is he should take a lot of upside from it. I mean, the truth is that he has a lot to be proud of. The truth is that he proved he's still in the mix, can still win these championships, and he still has a lot of time on his side if he makes good decisions. It should give him a lot of confidence going into the summer.
But the sad truth is you never know how somebody responds to such disappointment. But I like his chances. He's one of the best competitors out there. As a result of that, I think he'll find a way to take away some positives.

Q. I don't remember you playing much doubles, especially in the majors. How do you like it? How do you like it out here?
ANDRE AGASSI: If they had triples, I'd even like that better. While doubles wasn't my specialty, it is my absolute specialty now. I don't know if it speaks to my doubles game or my singles game. But I do enjoy it. It's ball striking, it's shot-making. Every now and then I do something that I enjoy.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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