"I gave up my childhood to be able to have my children’s childhood" - When Andre Agassi turned emotional about relationship with his dad

Andre Agassi has always been open about how his father shaped his tennis career in ways he didn’t always appreciate. He once shared how those experiences influenced his own approach to raising his children.

Agassi's father, Mike, introduced him to tennis and coached him throughout his childhood. However, in 1983, when his son was just 13, Mike believed he had taught him all he could and sent him to Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida.

In 2009, the American tennis legend revealed that he was "scared" of Mike and even wanted to quit tennis. However, he pushed through and later used those experiences to shape his approach to parenting his two children, Jaz and Jaden, with his wife, Steffi Graf.

"That feeling was very formative in my life. It puts you into a position of survival. It makes you raw. You start way too early in life to see it cynically. But I think now that I am raising my [two] children it’s grown in its profoundness because I try to imagine what it would have been like to say goodbye to my son three years ago or to say goodbye to my daughter a year ago," Andre Agassi told Inside Tennis in 2017.

He added:

"They turned 16 and 14 last month and these have been some of the most beautiful years of my life since I’m sharing in their growth. Quite frankly, I would hope these years would be very important to them as it relates to who they want to be."

Agassi added that he gave up his childhood to protect his children's, and while he had no regrets, he admitted that such a "trajectory-shaping" experience came too early in his life.

"I gave up my childhood to be able to have my children’s childhood. At this stage I feel reconciled with all of it, but that doesn’t change the fact that that that was a very trajectory-shaping moment that happened in my opinion at way too young of an age," he said.

Neither Jaz nor Jaden pursued tennis as a career, despite their family's deep connection to the sport. Instead, they have each chosen their own paths.

Andre Agassi & Steffi Graf's children Jaz & Jaden trying to make a name for themselves

Despite their combined 29 Grand Slam titles, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf never pushed their children, Jaden and Jaz, toward tennis. Instead, they gave them the freedom to pursue their own passions.

Jaden chose baseball, spending three years with the University of Southern California's program starting in 2021. During that time, he made 40 appearances, including 19 starts, and posted a 5-4 record over 117 innings. He later played for the Santa Barbara Foresters in the California Collegiate League before deciding to take a gap year at USC.

The 23-year-old took on the role of a starting pitcher for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the MLB Draft League this summer. His aim is to establish the 'Agassi' name in baseball just as prominently as it is in tennis.

Meanwhile, his sister Jaz, 21, is a talented dancer who has won several competitions. She is also passionate about fitness and works as a fitness coach.