Andre Agassi wins his professional pickleball debut with partner Anna Leigh Waters

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Andre Agassi won his professional pickleball debut a day after turning 55, teaming with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters to defeat a pair of even younger teens 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday.

Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who retired from professional tennis in 2006. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years later.

He has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media.

Agassi will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports during the semifinals and finals at the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.

Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong that uses paddles and a wiffleball. It quickly rose from nearly nothing to more than 13 million players in the United States in just a few years.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis