Agassi's kids just learning of parents' superstardom
8/25/2006 2:30 AM ET By Jill Lieber Steeg, USA TODAY
They've been world travelers since they were in diapers, making the trek to almost every tournament their father, Andre Agassi, has played in. They've sat quietly at stadiums in the arms of their mother, Steffi Graf, typically in seats that can only be photographed by telescopic lenses.
Yet, all of this tennis business hasn't totally registered with them yet.
"Jaden is interested as much as a 4½ year old can be," Agassi says. "He's starting to try to figure it out when you show up at camp to pick him up, and hang out for a few minutes, and other older kids are going, 'Will you sign this? Will you sign that?' He's sort of looking, 'Why? What is this?' So, now he's figuring it out: I play tennis, that's what I do for work, and sometimes it's on TV and people see it. I don't know how much he processes it beyond that."
Says Graf: "Jaden saw me playing in an exhibition against Gaby (Gabriella Sabatini). He actually had a nap, and so he wakes up in the arms of my brother, Mike, and sees me playing. I remember Mike saying, 'He had the strangest look on his face: Mommy plays tennis, too? In front of people?' "
Both say their children are good little athletes, but that they will not push them toward tennis.
"Jaden has a good eye-hand, eye-arm coordination," Agassi says. "I'm not sure of his foot speed. Whenever he hits balls — I throw him baseballs — or he picks up a golf club or a tennis racket, he hits it. He hits it square, and he hits it hard. But there's a lot more to sports than that."
Says Graf: "The other morning, we went to the grandparents. Jazzie played two minutes of tennis; Jaden maybe 15 minutes. And then it was too hot. I was like, 'Okay.' Tennis isn't really their thing. They love their arts and crafts. Whatever they like. Right now, it's everything a little bit."
