"He used to always call me Snoopy" - Andre Agassi revisits fond childhood memories with father Emmanuel & Ilie Nastase

Andre Agassi recently recalled his earliest memories of Romanian tennis legend Ilie Nastase during a MasterClass talk at the SportsFestival held in the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania over the past weekend.

The former World No. 1 took part in a mixed doubles exhibition match on Saturday alongside his wife Steffi Graf and Romanians Simona Halep and Andrei Pavel. The sold-out match at the BTarena was also graced by Nastase, Ion Tiriac and Virgina Rucizi, all Grand Slam champions from the country.

During the MasterClass session on Sunday, the 54-year-old recalled his earliest memories of his interactions with his father and Nastase when he was just seven years old.

"My father always had me out on the tennis court, hitting balls there so that people could watch. Ilie noticed me out there hitting as a little seven-year-old. He actually went out of his way to come on the court and hit with me for 10-15 minutes. We ended up making it a tradition every time he came to town (for a professional tournament)," Agassi said.

"He used to always call me Snoopy, and I don't know why. He would say 'Where's Snoopy' and 'Hey Snoopy, come on, let's go hit'. So, I always had a warm relationship with Ilie over the years," the American added.

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Andre Agassi to captain Team World at Laver Cup

Andre Agassi at the 2018 Australian Open

Andre Agassi will be seen as the new captain for Team World at the Laver Cup, starting with the 2025 edition in San Francisco.

Agassi will take over the captaincy from fellow American John McEnroe, who has captained the team since the inception of the tournament in 2017. Meanwhile, Yannick Noah will lead Team Europe, replacing Bjorn Borg.

The father-of-two won eight Grand Slam singles titles and also won the Olympics Gold Medal at the Atlanta Games in 1996 during a career that spanned more than two decades.