I LOVE ADRIANA Posted September 12, 2006 Posted September 12, 2006 source: wikipedia Name Andre Kirk Agassi Birth Date April 29, 1970 Birth Place Las Vegas, Nevada Profession Tennis Player Ethinicity Assyrian Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former world number one professional tennis player from the United States. He is one of only five players to have won all four Grand Slam singles events during his career. He is also the only player in the open era to have won every Grand Slam singles title, to have won the Tennis Masters Cup, to have been part of the Davis Cup winning team, and to have won an Olympic gold medal. Because of sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a Spondylolisthesis (shifting vertebrae), and a bone spur that interferes with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the 3rd round of the US Open. Agassi is married to Steffi Graf and has two children. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children. Early Life Agassi is of Armenian-Iranian, Assyrian and French ancestry. His father, Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (who represented Iran in boxing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games before immigrating to the United States), was intent on having a child win all four tennis Grand Slams. He called Agassi's two older siblings "guinea pigs" in the development of his coaching techniques. He honed Andre's eye-coordination when he was an infant by hanging tennis balls above his crib. He gave Agassi paddles and balloons when he was still in a high chair. When Agassi started playing tennis, his ball collection filled 60 garbage cans with 300 balls per can, and Agassi would hit 3,000-5,000 balls every day. When Andre was five years old, he was already practicing with pros such as Jimmy Connors and Roscoe Tanner. Later, Mike began working in one of the Las Vegas casinos that belonged to Armenian American tycoon Kirk Kerkorian. Mike and Kirk became good friends, and Andre's middle name "Kirk" is actually after Kirk Kerkorian. Mike Agassi learned tennis by watching tapes of champions. He took a very systematic approach to the physics and psychology of tennis and is still active in the sport. At the age of 14, Andre was sent to teaching guru Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. He turned professional at the age of 16. Quote
I LOVE ADRIANA Posted September 12, 2006 Author Posted September 12, 2006 How the hell did Andre not have a thread? Anyway, my dad knows his dad, Mike. My dad used to see his dad at the MGM hotel & casino (Andre's dad works there). Pretty weird... his dad said that Andre is full Assyrian and that he doesn't have Armenian in him... I don't know. Whatever. But this dude looks like a full blown Assyrian man to me... He's a great tennis player though. Or, he was. Quote
I LOVE ADRIANA Posted September 13, 2006 Author Posted September 13, 2006 No one here like Andre? Where's Marduk? He might show Andre some love... Quote
Compassionate_Conservative Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Vote for Andre & Steffi at the Hottest Couples Competition HERE! Quote
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