He walked onto the court to a standing ovation, hardly the first time Andre Agassi has been warmly welcomed by a throng of tennis fans but one of the most enjoyable greetings he has ever received.
Nearly three years after he retired from competitive tennis, the eight-time Grand Slam winner dusted off his rackets to play World Team Tennis. His appearance Friday for the Philadelphia Freedoms against the Newport Beach Breakers was another step back into the world he left for charity work and family and reentered only at the request of the estimable Billie Jean King, co-founder of WTT.
His progress has been slow. Painful too, as his muscles attest.
"I thought it would be pretty easy. You play five games, you get to sit down," he said. "But it's highly competitive and a difficult way to tiptoe back into it."
He's not easing into this: He's plunging in with the zest and showmanship that endeared him to crowds the world over.
Agassi, 39, played mixed doubles, doubles and singles Friday for the second week in a row. He also traded shots with local youngsters and bantered with fans in the lively sellout crowd of 2,000 at Breakers Stadium.
In his first match, a mixed-doubles victory with Lisa Raymond over Julie Ditty and Kaes Van't Hof, Agassi unleashed a few nifty cross-court shots and an over-the-shoulder winner that hinted at his old command and intelligence. He and Nathan Healey lost their doubles match to Ramon Delgado and Van't Hof, and he lost his singles match to Delgado, but that really didn't matter.
For Agassi -- who could not remember having played in Orange County before -- the night was mainly about promoting the game to repay all it did for him. On that score it was a resounding success.
"If I can come out here and make a difference and people have fun as the result of it and I get to see a lot of old friends and get to connect with the game that's been kind to me, then that's a win across the board," he said.
Although he and wife Steffi Graf -- winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles -- played some exhibition matches on Wimbledon's Centre Court in May and he's due to play in an over-30 champions series later this year, he said he's not planning a return to competitive tennis. His spirits are buoyant, but his body is less so.
"You've got to get to know yourself all over again," he said. "Tennis is all about educated decisions, and those decisions are based on what kind of court you're giving up and how well you can sort of close the gap.
