"Bull***t, Steffi should have learned Andre's two-handed backhand, and she would have won 32 Grand Slam finals" - when Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's fathers got into a war of words

Tennis legend Andre Agassi once gave the world an insight into how his father got along with his wife Steffi Graf's father.

Agassi and Graff, two of the greatest tennis players of their generation, decided to tie the knot 21 years ago. Graf gave birth to their first child, Jaden Gil, on October 26, 2001, and their daughter Jaz Elle was born two years later. They remain happily married, living in Las Vegas, and doing a lot of work for charity.

The eight-time Grand Slam champion discussed his father Emmanuel's relationship with Graf's father Peter in a 2009 interview with SPIEGEL, recalling a heated exchange between the two.

"They only met once; they were standing in our garden. Peter had just told my dad that he should have taught me Steffi's slice and that I would have been even better. And then my dad said: 'Bullshit. Steffi should have learned Andre's two-handed backhand, and she would have won 32 Grand Slam finals.' Suddenly they were in front of each other, shadowboxing," Andre Agassi said.

"Peter is funnier and more subtle, so I was not worried about him when he said: 'I'll knock you out.' I was worried about my dad because I knew how he normally reacted to things like that. Peter actually took off his shirt. It was surreal," he added.

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"It wasn't like that, it was her choice; Stefanie did not have to give up her family or her childhood" - Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi at The 2019 Australian Open.

When asked about Peter Graf's role as a "diabolical" parent who stole his daughter's childhood, Andre Agassi stated that this was not the case because Steffi Graf had always enjoyed playing tennis. Speaking of himself, Agassi spoke about how he was sent away to attend a training camp in Florida where he had no friends and was separated from his mother.

"It wasn't like that. It was her choice. Stefanie did not have to give up her family or her childhood, whereas I was sent to a training academy in Florida. And, from that moment on, I had no friends and no mom anymore. No, this story and this image are wrong. Of course, sometimes she was sick of it; but, in general, she loved the sport she happened to be great at," Agassi said in the interview with SPIEGEL.

The eight-time Grand Slam champion recalled his father's violent nature, stating that Emmanuel used to drive around with an axe handle and a pistol, knocking people unconscious when he got into heated discussions with them.

"Yes, very much so. And choleric. He used to have an axe handle in the car and sometimes a pistol. I was there when he knocked people unconscious with whom he had gotten into stupid debates about who had had the right-of-way," Agassi said.