The power couple of tennis lives a simple life with their two children despite their incredible fame.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on September 21, 2021. It has since been updated.
Tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have 30 Grand Slam titles between them. They were the power couple of the game when Agassi retired in 2006; Graf had retired in 1999 after getting everything she wanted from the game. So, they have no regrets for leaving it at their best. Instead, the couple focuses on their private life with children Jaden and Jaz now.
While they have been together for a long time now, married since 2001, things could have been quite different. Agassi, in an interview with BBC, said that he liked her for nine years before asking her out. When asked what they thought of each other, Agassi said, "She was a step in the right direction for me. I was a step in the wrong direction for her probably."
It was in 1999, when Graf retired after a 17-year career after winning the French Open, that their story took off. Cupid struck that summer as they got to spend time with each other. Agassi had also won the French Open that year. "It really clicked from there," said the German tennis player, who was previously married to actress Brooke Shields. Their story progressed really quickly with them marrying in 2001, with only their mothers and witnesses present, according to Honey.
Married for over 21 years now, they are happy and living a simple life despite their incredible fame. "We have no interest in creating unnecessary attention and we thrive in our own environment, which is our lives as a whole," Agassi, the eight-time Grand Slam winner, told the Independent. “Not just us and our own family, but our friends, the people we see in our local grocery store and enjoying our life," he said.
Asked about his almost two-decade-long marriage to one of the greatest tennis players in the world, Graf, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, he said, "This life works for us and we are very happy. I don’t think there is any real secret to a happy marriage, but there are some necessary working parts. I think you need two whole people that truly don’t need each other, respect and love each other in a way that has full discipline and commitment. We are two individuals that have lived full lives and we don’t react to each other, we respond to each other."
The only thing better than #KnightTime is Knight Time with my bride!! #lovelove pic.twitter.com/EnmWsiKdvU
— Andre Agassi (@AndreAgassi) April 27, 2018
As tennis legends, they know what discipline means, having to live years of their life under a strict regimen of diet, exercise, and practice, so he brings the same values to his personal life too. "I think all too often, that discipline is lost in a marriage and that then spills over into a lack of respect and losing care for each other. That is when communications can break down. That gives you a chance to make the most of a beautiful opportunity when you meet someone very special in life," said the 51-year-old Agassi.
The former tennis player was quoted by Tennisworld as saying, "It's thanks to her that we have been together for 17 [at the time] years. You need to find the right person."
Since retirement, the couple calls Las Vegas home, as Agassi grew up there, and that is where their work is based now. The couple focuses on the Andre Agassi Preparatory Academy, which was started to provide education to young kids, something he didn't get a chance to have.
Agassi, who was once a rebel and prodigy in tennis, also shed some light on his role as a father. He may have scaled the heights of tennis, but fatherhood is his current biggest challenge.
"Being a parent is my greatest responsibility. Raising our two kids is our biggest joy and our biggest worry in many ways. You want to make the right decisions, you want to do what is best for them and that changes over time. Decisions get more precarious when they get older, worries get less but more intense. There is no answer to how to raise a 17-year-old because I have only ever had a 16-year-old so I’ll work that out next year," he told the Independent.
The devoted father said that when his son was five, he made a promise to him which he still keeps. His son made a necklace for him and he promised to wear it whenever he was away from home. "So he made it and I kept it. It’s important to me. If something, god forbid, happened to it I'd be devastated," he told Honey.
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