Tennis: Agassi looks forward to life on the sidelines

Andre Agassi is reflecting on two decades at the top. Picture / Reuters

Andre Agassi, set to wave good-bye to tennis after next month's US Open, says he is ready to reclaim his life after two decades on the tour.

"I look forward to not having to do things, like waking up everyday and saying, 'OK, what do I have to do today?' because of my schedule," Agassi said.

"It's going to be a bit more on my terms, which is what I want my life to look like."

This week on his farewell tour, the 36-year-old Las Vegas native will play in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, a tournament he has won five times in 17 career appearances.

Agassi, speaking in a wide-ranging news conference today, said he was ready for life's next chapter.

"The last 20 years on the tennis court has all been practice for me for tomorrow," he said.

"I've spent a lifetime on the tennis court preparing myself for the next battle.

"I feel like I have over 20 years experience dealing with this very thing, the challenges of how life now may look for me."

"I look forward to embracing that as much as I have embraced any stage of my career."

Agassi, married to former tennis great Steffi Graf, said he looks forward to "not having to rest" and spending more time with his five-year-old son, Jaden Gil, and three-year-old daughter, Jaz Elle.

"There are times where you have to rest," he said. "Try to swing that with a three-year-old and a five-year-old. They're just not buying it. And why should they?"

Agassi, one of only five male players to have won a career Grand Slam and currently ranked number 22 in the world, conceded leaving the game will be difficult.

"This has been my life," he said. "It hasn't been about hitting the ball, it's about being part of a great sport, a lot of great people.

"It's not just saying good-bye to the sport, to a business, to hitting a tennis ball. It's saying good-bye to all the people you've done this with, from the fans to the sport itself to your peers.

"You've lived something on so many different levels and to walk away from that, I don't take that lightly at all."

Agassi said despite his well-publicised last go-round on the summer circuit, he has not skipped a beat in his training for the two-week US Open, which begins Aug. 28.

He drilled Monday in weather reaching 100 degrees (38 Celsius).

"I'm not preparing for the Open any differently," said Agassi, who will be a crowd favourite at the New York tournament.

"But it's hard to ignore that nostalgia that exists, like after practice when I'm cooling down from a sweat you can only achieve here in Washington, D.C.

"I feel nostalgic at neat moments that always seem to take me by surprise."

- REUTERS