Jun 17, 2007, 15:35 GMT
Hamburg - Andre Agassi believes he has made a succesful transition from tennis to a life outside a game which dominated his world for 21 years and says he 'does not miss competition at all.'
Tennis veterans Andre Agassi and Marcelo Rios (unseen), during a press conference Thursday 29 March 2007, in Santiago de Chile, prior to their exhibition match Friday. EPA/Ian Salas EPA/Ian Salas
'The part I liked was not the competition. The part I liked was about challenging myself, discovering myself,' Agassi told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.
Agassi, 37, said he had put tennis behind him emotionally even though his last game, a third-round defeat to Germany's Benjamin Becker at the US Open, was only nine months ago.
However the emotions he experienced when thousands of fans gave him a standing ovation at Flushing Meadow at a tear-filled farewell made him realize why it had been so difficult to give up the game.
Agassi, one of only five players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in their careers, said he always played with heart.
'You could see me and know if it would be a good day or not a good day - without even seeing me hit a ball,' he said.
With a player like current number one Roger Federer it is different. 'When someone plays so easily as Federer it is something people cannot identify with,' he said.
Agassi experienced three generations of players: the era McEnroe and Connors; the era of Lendl, Becker, Edberg; then the time of Sampras or Courier. The game, he said, 'has got so much better over the years' and had 'improved dramatically' in the last 10 years.
Agassi now enjoys life at home in Las Vegas with his wife, Steffi Graf, the 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner, and children Jaden Gil, 5, and Jaz Elle, 3.
He has swapped his at-times unconventional tennis outfits for more conservative dress, as a businessman who among other things runs 10 restaurants in Las Vegas, Mexico and California, has a share in a fitness chain, designs furniture with Steffi and spends a good deal of time on their foundation for children in need.
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