Andre Agassi’s rarely-seen son Jaden Gil Agassi, 24, whom he shares with his wife Steffi Graf, towered over him during a recent public outing together.
The father-son duo attended the French Open on June 5, as Jaden donned a navy blue suit and Andre sported a white t-shirt, gray pants and black sneakers.
The tennis legend enjoyed some bonding time with his son as they watched the men’s semi-finals.
Andre’s take
Jaden didn’t end up going into tennis like his father, and neither of his athletic parents ever pressured him to get involved.
Andre revealed in his autobiography titled Open, that his father was extremely strict when it came to his training sessions growing up, and he really wanted his son to become a world champion in the sport.
He shared: “My father yells everything twice, sometimes three times, sometimes 10. ‘Harder,’ he says, ‘harder. Hit earlier. [Expletive] it Andre, hit earlier, crowd the ball, crowd the ball.'”
© Getty ImagesThe couple consciously decided they didn’t want their son to have the same experience growing up, instead they wanted their children to find their own passions at their own pace.
Steffi explained: “We never really introduced tennis so much into their lives. They’ve chosen other things.” The pair didn’t want their son to feel as though he had to earn love through being great at a sport.
Andre revealed to USA Today: “The idea that a parent would attach a child’s right to be loved in this world based on their performance is a tragedy. What somebody needs to do to be pro at 16 years old is crazy, right?”
© InstagramAbout Jaden
Although Andre didn’t influence Jaden into sports, he chose baseball when he was six years old and became a pitcher later on.
He played baseball for his high school team, and then he attended the University of Southern California. During the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he played for Germany.
© InstagramJaden’s take on baseball
Jaden is proud of his family’s legacy and wants to continue adding to it. He shared with WKBN News: “That’s kind of the goal. Agassi is a very tennis last name, of course. The goal is to try to make it a baseball one.”
Jaden expressed his deep passion for baseball, adding: “I started playing baseball when I was six years old in T-ball. I loved it. I’ve picked up a tennis racket a good amount, but it was always hard for me to keep that ball in between the lines. I just wanted to hit that thing as far as I could. Baseball had my love since day one.” The duo are also parents to Jaz Elle Agassi, born in 2003.
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