Archive of posts tagged Steffi Graf

USTA Foundation to Honor Andre Agassi with Serving Up Dreams Award

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By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 8, 2025
Photo credit: USTA Foundation

Andre Agassi has been a dream-maker for students and players.

This month, Hall of Famer Agassi will be honored for his efforts.

The USTA Foundation announced former World No. 1 Agassi will be honored with the Serving Up Dreams Award at its annual Opening Night Gala on Sunday, August 24th, at the US Open.

Agassi

The Serving Up Dreams Award is presented “to an individual who embodies the values of dedicated service to advance the USTA Foundation’s work to prepare young people for the life challenges they will face, both on and off the court,  through the powerful combination of tennis, education, and life skills development,” the Foundation said in a statement.

Agassi is among the few professional tennis players to establish a foundation during their playing careers, and he approaches his philanthropy with the same unflagging drive and focus as he demonstrated on the court. In 2001, Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education to improve public schools and invest in communities. His efforts have raised over $180 million to date. He founded and operated the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (Agassi Prep), a free public charter school in his hometown of Las Vegas, which graduated nine senior classes under Agassi’s leadership, and still remains open today. He also co-founded the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, which helps build schools in low-income areas across the nation. Agassi has dedicated much of his post-tennis life to education reform, particularly for young people from under-resourced communities.

Agassi also personally funded a Boys & Girls Club in Las Vegas.

One of only five men to achieve a career Grand Slam in the Open Era, Agassi transformed the sport of tennis in the 1990s, becoming a global legend with his charismatic personality and bold playing style. Alongside his eight major singles titles, he won an Olympic singles gold medal in Atlanta and 60 tour-level titles during his 21-year professional career, before retiring at the 2006 US Open.

“Investing in education is one of the most powerful ways you can transform lives and communities. While my career may have been in tennis, I believe my true calling is to help create quality academic opportunities for young people that I frankly didn’t have,” said Agassi. “It’s a privilege to be able to make a difference and help give kids the chance to choose their own path. This honor serves as a reminder that when you put in the hard work and hold yourself accountable for achieving real outcomes, you can change lives. That’s the only result that truly matters.”

To learn more about the USTA Foundation, please visit ustafoundation.com 

Holger Rune reveals his feelings about his time with Andre Agassi

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Agassi Holger

Holger Rune is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated players at the Toronto Masters 1000, where he has the chance to achieve a prestigious result given the numerous absences among the top players. There are no Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who occupy the top two positions in the ATP rankings, and Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper are not present in Canada either.

The young Danish star is not going through a brilliant moment in his career, especially considering that there were huge expectations on him when he took his first steps on the professional tour. He has had several injuries in recent seasons and has made several mistakes, changing coaches several times and never finding the necessary stability to fully express his talent.

At the beginning of his career, Rune was considered at the same level as Sinner and Alcaraz, but it is difficult to have the same opinion today given that the Italian has already won four Grand Slam titles and the Spaniard has won five Majors.

Rune opens up on Agassi

Holger – who also disappointed expectations at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon Championships – understood that something must change to turn his career around and practiced in Washington together with a legend like Andre Agassi, who was by his side for three days before the start of the event. The Dane was unable to participate in this tournament due to back discomfort.

In a long interview with 'Ziggo Sport' before the start of the 'Canadian Open', the former world number 4 reflected on his time together with Agassi: "It was a great experience to share the court with a tennis legend for a few days. I learned several things and we tried to understand how to perfect my tennis. Andre is very good at listening and gives great advice, which is why I am really grateful to him. It spurred me on to find more balance in my game and there I worked with maximum effort."

Rune will not have an easy debut in Toronto, as his first opponent will be French ace Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Rune Working with Andre Agassi Ahead of Citi Open

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The pair will reportedly spend three days together, according to a report by Stephanie Myles. Andre Agassi

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 19, 2025

Holger Rune and Andre Agassi are spending some quality time together at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

Tennis Express

According to Stephanie Myles of Open Court, who shot the below video, the pair are to spend three days together prepping for the ATP 500 event.

According to Myles, the pair will spend three days together in the hopes that Rune can gain some insight from the eight-time Slam champion

The Dane has had both good and bad moments this season. Famously, he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona final. But he's only 22-14 on the season with the one title. He reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, but lost in the first round at Wimbledon.

Agassi has been on the scene a bit in recent months, commentating for TNT at Roland-Garros for four days, and appearing on the Andy Roddick First Serve Podcast for an in-depth interview.

Swiatek's Wimbledon Triumph, By the Numbers

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The Pole is the only active woman to have reached major finals on all three surfaces. Ashleigh Barty

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 15, 2025

Iga Swiatek was not known as a formidable grass-court player ahead of Wimbledon. Boy, did she ever change the narrative, as she went on a run for the ages to earn her sixth major title and first at Wimbledon.

Tennis Express

Join us for a quick look inside the numbers of Iga’s latest triumph.

1 – Swiatek is the first Polish player to win a Wimbledon singles title in the Open Era.

2 – The Polish juggernaut dropped just two games across her semifinal and final rounds, which is the fewest in Open Era Grand Slam history.

3 – With a perfect 6-0 record in Grand Slam finals, Swiatek is the third player in Open Era history to have won her first six major finals, joining Monica Seles, 6, and Roger Federer, 7.

35 – Swiatek dropped just 35 games to win the title — the fewest since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

8 – Swiatek is the eighth woman in the Open Era to win Grand Slam singles titles on all three surfaces, joining Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Hana Mandlikova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Ashleigh Barty.

She is the only current active WTA player who has even reached the final at a Slam on all three surfaces.

100 – The Pole’s victory in the final was her 100th Grand Slam match-win in singles. She has lost just 20 of her Grand Slam matches to date, and is the fastest player to reach 100 wins since Serena Williams did it in 116 matches in 2004.

Swiatek is now a perfect 6-0 in Grand Slam singles finals — and she has beaten six different opponents in each of those finals.

6-0, 6-0 – She became the second woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam final with a 6-0 6-0 scoreline. Steffi Graf defeated Natasha Zvereva without losing a game in the 1988 Roland Garros final.