Agassi opens up on coaching Djokovic
For decades Andre Agassi has been a focus of attention at Wimbledon, either as a player, especially when winning the men's singles title in 1992, or as a coach to Novak Djokovic last year. This year the American is here simply as a fan of the sport.
“I look for any excuse to come back,” the 48-year-old told the Wimbledon Channel at the Lavazza coffee stand.
“Even though I am a member of the Club, I am not always in the neighbourhood,” said Agassi, who lives in Las Vegas with his wife, 22-time Grand Slam singles winner Steffi Graf, and their two children.
“It’s also nice to be here without the stress, or the drama of playing, where you can just take in the environment and enjoy a day of tennis,” said Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam winner himself, who was one of the sport’s biggest stars in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Agassi’s visit this year is more relaxed than last year’s with three-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic, who was forced to retire from his quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury.
After the Championships, Djokovic took the rest of the season off, before eventually undergoing surgery following a fourth round defeat at the Australian Open at the start of this season.
In April, Agassi and Djokovic parted ways, with the Serb re-hiring his long-time coach, Marian Vajda, at the start of the clay court season.
“No regrets overall,” Agassi said about his time with Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam winner. “I think him being healthy is the number one issue he is dealing with. It looks like he finally is. The nine months I was with him, there was never two days in a row where he was, which is frustrating because he has his own process. It’s his body and I understand that.”
Agassi said he had learnt some valuable lessons from his first stint as a coach.
“The experience taught me that not only is there a lot you need to learn in coaching, but there is some things that you have accept,” he said.
“That somebody is going to go about it at their own rhythm and pace. I thought a little bit could go a long ways and there were hopefully some things we learnt, but at the end of the day we kind of found ourselves both wanting our hands on the wheels a little too strong.”
Still, Agassi doesn’t rule out coaching again.
“If I could help, I’d love learning people things in 10 minutes that I have learnt in 10 years, especially if they’re coachable and they’re anxious to hear it,” he said. “I would never hesitate taking phone calls, or finding ways to stay connected to the game.”
Meanwhile, Agassi said he is enjoying seeing a bit of tennis around the Grounds of the All England Club during this year’s Championships.
“I can throw on a hat and people are just busy watching,” he said. “It is fun to see it through the lens of all these fans.”