Andre Agassi just can't let tennis go

"So when you used to look at a distance and think, 'OK, this is right where I want to be,' you realize that it's not where you want to be because you can't close that gap anymore. So it changes your shots. Shot selection has been a bit of a challenge, but I'm figuring it out. I have a good learning curve."

Maybe so, but his greatest feats now occur outside of tennis through his charitable foundation and the experimental charter school he opened in his hometown of Las Vegas.

Like the kids he helps through a Las Vegas Boys' and Girls' Club and facilities for neglected youngsters, the kids at his school were from compromised backgrounds. "Children that society has written off," he said.

The first senior class graduated June 12. All 34 made it. Twenty-seven will go on to four-year colleges and seven to two-year colleges.

"It's like letting go of your own children in many respects and watching them fly off to college and go on with their lives and hopefully return," he said. "I think that will be our clearest definition of success, when they come back to our community and contribute to the next generation."

For that work, and so much more, Agassi will be honored on the opening night of the U.S. Open, Aug. 31, along with athletes from other sports who do similarly good works. It will be a special night for Agassi, who won two titles there and ended his career there in 2006.

"I just can't say no to that," he said.

Although he put tennis at a distance, he never lost touch with it. He marveled at Roger Federer's epic five-set victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, proud of Roddick as a fellow American but respectful of Federer's record 15th Grand Slam victory. He's also keenly aware that Roddick, ranked No. 5 in the world, is the only American man in the top 10 and that Roddick and No. 17 James Blake are the only American men in the top 20.

"We've been blessed with a number of generations in America and it's very competitive internationally, probably more so now than ever," he said. "But the truth is we have a huge population here and we have to figure out a way to get a racket in more children's hands."

He has had mixed results at getting a racket into the hands of his own kids, who watched Friday's match with their mother. Daughter Jaz, 5, plays three or four times a week. Son Jaden, 7, "is entrenched in baseball," the proud papa said.

Another fine legacy in a life full of enduring marks.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com