LOCAL LEGEND: Agassi wins off the court

Still ranked among tennis' best, Andre Agassi maintains his focus on giving back

Andre Agassi has risen, fallen and risen again in his legendary tennis career.

Closing in on 34 years old, which he'll turn April 29, the Las Vegas native is still at the top of his game on the court -- ranked fifth in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals and winner of three of the last five Australian Opens -- but he may be even more impressive off the court.

Once known for his flowing locks and colorful attire and persona, Agassi has grown up gracefully and given back generously. Now a bald-headed husband -- to Steffi Graf, a tennis legend in her own right with 22 Grand Slam titles -- and father of two (2-year-old Jaden and 1-year-old Jaz), Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation in 1994 to assist at-risk youth in Las Vegas.

Since the inaugural Grand Slam for Children benefit concert took place in 1995, he has raised more than $24 million for his charitable endeavors. Agassi has earned more than $28 million in professional tennis.

"I always had a hope I could give back to the community," said Agassi at the recent grand opening of the 24-Hour Fitness Agassi Super-Sport Club in Summerlin. "I'm a native of Las Vegas and it was just a question of where to give back and how much to give back.

"I believe the more blessed you are, the more responsible you are to give back. To see a life changed is more rewarding than to add another notch to your list of wins."

Agassi, twice named the winner of the ATP's Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, made a $1.25 million contribution to open the Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club in Las Vegas in 1997 and his assistance league clothes more than 3,000 children per year.

In 2001, The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a charter school for at-risk youth, opened in West Las Vegas for grades three through five, and last year, the school expanded to the seventh grade, with grades eight through 12 slated to open through 2008.

Agassi, who attended First Good Shepherd and Cashman Junior High School before heading to Florida to hone his skills at the world-renowned Bollettieri Tennis Academy as a 16-year-old prodigy, said his own academy has exceeded his expectations.

"A kid will come into the academy two years behind and a year later he'll be at his grade level," he said with pride.

With his family and myriad charitable and business endeavors taking up his time, Agassi admits it's tougher than ever to stay on top in the tennis world.

"It's hard, but in some respects it makes me leaner," he said. "I'm more efficient with my time and it takes my mind away from the game, and that's important now."

Agassi, who is 793-243 in career singles matches and has won 58 titles, including eight Grand Slams and a career Grand Slam, shows no signs of slowing down, although he continues to get besieged with questions about retirement.

"I'll play as long as, in my estimation, I can win," he said. "I think now it's more crucial than ever that I play my best. Four or five years ago, I could win at 80 percent, but now I have to be at my best, and it gets harder every year. I'm as strong, if not stronger than I've ever been. I'm healthy and I have no excuses."

Health and fitness have long been a big part of Agassi's life, and he said that's why he put his name on the new club in Summerlin, which, ironically, doesn't offer tennis.

"Part of me feels pretty good with that, because it's not about me as a tennis player, it's about delivering the message that exercise is important in people's lives, regardless of what they do," he said. "If fitness is a part of your life, you can do everything in your life better."

Agassi, who said he typically trains 1 1/2 hours a day -- a half-hour of cardiovascular exercise through sprints and incline running and an hour of court work -- has won four Australian Opens (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003), two U.S. Opens (1994, 1999), one French Open (1999) and one Wimbledon title (1992), as well as an Olympic gold medal (Atlanta 1996).

"Winning all four majors is (my career) highlight. When I won in Paris, it was certainly the most memorable moment I've had on a tennis court," he said. "That and winning a gold medal. Those two (are the top highlights), and to still be doing it at age 34. I never imagined it, and most of my career, I never wanted it."

Agassi burst onto the tennis scene at age 18, when he made the semifinals of both the French and U.S. Opens. He topped three-time Wimbledon champions Boris Becker and John McEnroe on his way to winning the Wimbledon title in 1992 over Goran Ivanisevic, then bounced back from wrist surgery to win the U.S. Open in 1994 as an unseeded player.

He rode a career-best 26-match win streak into the 1995 U.S. Open, where he lost to longtime rival Pete Sampras, and the next year, he became the first man from the United States to win an Olympic gold medal in singles in 72 years.

He stumbled to a No. 141 ranking in 1997, taking a wild card entry into the Las Vegas Challenger before making the biggest one-year jump into the top 10 in the history of the ATP rankings in 1998, going from No. 122 to No. 6.

In 1999, he finished No. 1 for the first time in his career, going 23-2 in Grand Slams, winning the U.S. Open and his first French Open to complete the career Grand Slam. He was only the fifth man ever, and second American, to accomplish the feat.

Agassi, who recently lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open, remains passionate about the game he's played since he was four, when he hit with tennis greats such as Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase in Las Vegas.

"The things I enjoy, I enjoy more than ever," he said. "And the things that are difficult are probably as difficult as ever."


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