Andre Agassi wins pro debut match with Anna Leigh Waters at US Open Pickleball Championships

Andre Agassi kicked off his professional pickleball career with a hard-earned victory. The 55-year-old partnered with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters, pickleball’s top female player, in the mixed doubles bracket at the Minto US Open Pickleball Championships.

“Tennis was relief, pickleball is joy, this is absolute joy,” Agassi said about the sport following his pro debut in Florida.

At the ninth annual championships held in Naples, Florida, Agassi and Waters met 13-year-old Stevie Petropouleas and 16-year-old Tristan Dussault in the opening round on Wednesday. (Fun fact: Petropouleas and Dussault began their careers in tennis before facing injuries that forced them to trade their racquets for paddles.)

Agassi and Waters led the opening game from the very first point.

At 6-3, Agassi proved his “amateur” status when he forgot where to stand as the returning player. Waters urged him to move up the kitchen line before the serve was played, and they went onto win the game 11-8.

The Agassi-Waters winning streak continued quickly to 5-3 in the second game, where the teenagers used their first timeout of the match. As the commentators noted, it was a strategic move as they shifted momentum into their favor, winning four straight points on Petropouleas’ serve and taking the lead for the first time.

Petropouleas and Dussault win game two 11-9 off a backhand unforced error by Agassi.

Heading into a deciding game, Agassi and Waters went up 6-2. But the lead didn't last for long.

“Welcome to pickleball Andre Agassi, where no one cares what you did on a tennis court,” the commentator said in the deciding game.

Soon enough, the teens tie the score at 6-6. Moments later, Petropouleas served at 7-7-2, where a massive back-and-forth resulted in Waters hitting an unreturnable shot at Dussault’s feet.

But Agassi and Waters regained their serve and win the match 11-7.

“This is a metaphor for life, choose your partner wisely,” Agassi said in the post-match interview.

The pair takes the court again later today for their quarterfinal, not before Waters will continue defending her women’s doubles title with mom and partner, Leigh Waters.

“I’m going to focus on the women’s match first before I think about the [mixed doubles] match later, but I’m used to playing three in one day so I’m excited,” Waters said in the post-match interview.