Andre Agassi says he is willing to help the cricket team coached by former Test cricketer David Hookes, whose death after an assault by a bouncer has shocked Australia.
Fourth-seeded Agassi, at 33 the oldest man in the tournament, blasted away one of the youngest to storm his way into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The four-time Open winner took 82 minutes to dispatch 18-year-old Czech Republic qualifier Tomas Berdych, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 and will now play Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in the next round.
Agassi was last week approached by Hookes via his Australian coach Darren Cahill to give a motivational speech to his players, just days before Hookes was attacked outside a Melbourne pub, suffering fatal injuries.
Agassi, like many others in sport, was affected by the news of the former high-profile Australian Test cricketer’s death at the age of 48.
”You can feel it. [I] never met him, [but] know of him and obviously the great history with him being a great cricket player,” Agassi said.
”I tell you, it’s a tragedy to me. It’s a shame that anybody would have to sort of go through that, him or his family. I’m just devastated by it.”
Agassi said after his match that if the Victorian cricketers wanted him to address them, he would be interested.
”It’s something I’ve never done. I’ve never quite considered myself one to give advice to anybody,” he said.
”But with that being said, I expressed an interest if the athletes themselves wanted that, nothing has been arranged.”
Agassi said Hookes’s death made him feel more keenly about his own mortality.
”As you get older, you become a lot more aware of it. As you have children, you worry about it,” said the father of two.
Agassi romped through the first eight games against Berdych, but encountered stiffer opposition in the final set when the Czech held break point on Agassi’s service in the fourth game.
”I like his game a lot. He has a lot of potential. He’s going to be a real good player,” Agassi said of Berdych.
”He moves pretty well for his size and has a big serve that’s only going to get better and he’s not scared to take chances.”
Agassi has now won his last 23 matches in the tournament and is shooting for five Australian titles in the eighth appearance in Melbourne, second only to Roy Emerson’s six. He has won eight Grand Slam titles.
His Australian Open match record stands at 41-3. — Sapa-AFP