"Can add great deal to a relationship or ruin it" - Andre Agassi on being 'careful' with wife Steffi Graf after taking to pickleball

Andre Agassi has discussed the upsides and the downsides of playing pickleball with his wife and 23-time Major winner Steffi Graf.

Agassi appeared on the "Pat McAfee Show" earlier on Thursday, November 9, to tease his Pickleball Slam doubles match against John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in South Florida, USA, on February 4, 2024.

The eight-time Major winner revealed that he has been practicing for the marquee clash with Steffi Graf, before joking that they both are so competitive that it put their relationship at stake.

"I've been playing a lot. And I've been playing with him on my mind, but I've been playing with my wife too. Which, by the way, can add a great deal to a relationship or ruin it! So you gotta be careful with that," Andre Agassi said on the Pat McAfee Show.

The 53-year-old then pointed out the similarities between tennis and pickleball, before making an important distinction between the two.

"We had such a blast last year, I think the most fun part was watching all these champions who knew how to direct their blood pressure and their energy, and get through the intensity of 20,000 people going silent once you were on a tennis court," Agassi said.

"Here we are with the same kind of experience and discipline, yet we have nowhere to direct it. Cause in Pickleball, you can't just "energy" yourself through these shots. You have to calm down when you hit it, it was so disorienting for all of us to deal with the pressure," he added.

"The pressure brought back some great memories, it felt like a Slam" - Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick at the 2023 Pickleball Slam

Andre Agassi also insisted during the interaction that preparing mentally for pickleball exchanges reminded him of his heyday.

"The pressure brought back some great memories and it felt like a Slam. That's why I wanted to do it again, and that's why Steffi is doing it too. She was there and she was like, 'Wow, that looked like a blast.' And she's been getting into it, it's been a lot of fun," he said.

Agassi had also participated in the inaugural edition of the Pickleball Slam in April this year at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel. He and Andy Roddick teamed up to beat John McEnroe and Michael Chang 21-15, 21-23, 12-10 to take home US $1 million in prize money winnings.