Oh boy, where do I even start? So, picture this: Naples, Florida — land of sunshine, retirees, and apparently, pickleball. Just when you thought 2025 couldn’t get any weirder, Andre Agassi — yes, that Agassi — is trading his tennis rackets for pickleball paddles. I mean, did anyone see that coming? And if I’m honest, the idea has been rattling around in my brain like a stray marble ever since I heard it.
So, here’s the scoop. Agassi, the guy we all cheered for at the US Open (like, when was it? ’94 and ’99? Time flies!), is stepping onto a different court. He’s pairing up with Anna Leigh Waters, who is, incredibly, an actual teenager, in the US Open Pickleball Championships next week. It’s held in Naples — Florida, not Italy, just to keep things straight. I can almost see Agassi squinting into the afternoon sun, thinking, “Is this real life?”
Now, Agassi isn’t new to this pickleball thing, apparently. He’s been popping up here and there in TV events alongside other ex-tennis stars. Guess he couldn’t resist the charm of plastic balls flying at him at, like, lightning speed or whatever. And get this, he’s also been hawking pickleball gear online. Who woulda thunk it, right? But hey, it’s his first official match in pro pickleball. So… let the games begin, I guess.
And on a totally random side note — you know those moments where life just takes a funny freak turn? — Agassi’s about to hit the big 5-5 next week. Kinda surreal, isn’t it? One minute he’s smashing forehands at Flushing Meadows, and then, snap, he’s dodging wiffle balls in Florida. Life, man.
As if that wasn’t enough, the man’s moonlighting as a studio analyst for TNT Sports. Yes, during the semifinals and finals at the French Open no less. Like somehow squeezing that in between pickleball smashes. How does he do it? Maybe it’s the hair. I remember his lion mane days; they were something, though now it feels like a past life.
Okay, a tiny detour here — pickleball. Ever heard of it? Imagine if tennis shrunk and crashed into ping pong. All you need is a paddle and a wiffle ball, and boom! You’ve got pickleball. Since when did it explode into this 13-plus million player craze? Seriously, from obscurity to everyone’s backyard in no time. Wild, right?
Anyway, that’s the lowdown from Naples, or at least as much as my caffeine-addled brain can muster. Andre Agassi, the pickleball pro. If nothing else, it gives us something to whack around the water cooler… or, you know, the pickleball court.
