Son of the former world number ones
Andre Agassi and Steffi
Graf had a debut to forget in baseball. Jaden Agassi had a disappointing outing
in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers while representing Germany on Monday. The
pitcher struggled as his team’s 9-7 loss to Brazil.
Both legends were sitting in the stands to witness their son’s
performance but it did not turn out to be. Jaden, before making his debut, talked
to Major League Baseball (MLB), and he expressed his desire to make his mother
proud. He also talked about when he started playing baseball.
“I'm so excited [to play for Germany],” he said. “It's been
a dream of mine since I was a little boy to compete on an international scale.
[I want to] make my mum proud, make Germany proud and do them right. I started
playing baseball when I was six years old in T-ball. I loved it. I've picked up
a tennis racket a good amount, but it was always hard for me to keep that ball
in between the lines. I just wanted to hit that thing as far as I could.
Baseball had my love since day one.”
Agassi and Graf are regarded as one of the most powerful
couples in the world of tennis, as both were former world number one. Agassi
finished his career with eight Grand Slam titles, whereas Graff finished with
22 major titles in her illustrious career. The two got married in 2001 and have
two children. Agassi’s last major triumph was the Australian Open title in
2003, where he defeated Germany’s Rainer Schuttler in the final with a score of
6-2, 6-2, 6-1. On the other hand, Graf’s last major title was the French Open
in 1999, where she got the better of the former world number one Switzerland’s Martina
Hingis in the final with a score of 4–6, 7–5, 6–2.