Andre Agassi shares his opinion on the state of men’s tennis and two of its biggest young stars.
The ATP Tour is in a transitional era with two of the sports’ famed ‘Big 3’ Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now retired.
Novak Djokovic is still playing, but he is no longer the World number one and the Serbian has not held a Grand Slam title since 2023.
The likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner lead the new generation of players, while American players such as Ben Shelton are knocking on the door of the elite group.
As the new era of men’s tennis continues to take shape, Agassi has shared his thoughts on the current era.
What does Andre Agassi think of men’s tennis now?
Andre Agassi retired from professional tennis in 2006 as one of the greatest to ever play the game. He has eight Grand Slam titles to his name and an Olympic gold medal.
The 54-year-old won those titles during a time where several American tennis players dominated the game, such as Pete Sampras and Jim Courier.
While the success of American men’s tennis at the top of the game is not at the level of Agassi’s heyday, he is thoroughly enjoying what the current game has to offer and is impressed with what the current American players are showcasing.
“I don’t worry about tennis, I love the storylines that evolve and reveal themselves but I also like to problem solve each side of it and I think the state of it is pretty cool,” he told RSPA’s YouTube channel.
“I think what you end up realising is that tennis – it is tennis that is so great that brings out the things that we end up appreciating in the players, right?
“It’s combat, gladiator stuff, so I think it’s in an awesome place because of it’s history and because when you look at it from any perspective, the American players – five in the top 20 or 25, two in the top 10.
“You look at it from the standpoint of versatility, we are going to see that hopefully change now because the game always leans with the spins and the surfaces getting a little bit closer in speed.”
Andre Agassi makes claims about Carlos Alcaraz and Joao Fonseca
Agassi specifically mentioned two of the game’s top young players, Alcaraz and Joao Fonseca.
Along with World number one Sinner, Alcaraz is leading the new era of men’s tennis and has four Grand Slam titles to his name at the age of 21.
Fonseca burst onto the scene in 2024 and at the age of just 18, he defeated top player Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open, his Grand Slam main draw debut.
Fonseca won his first title at the Argentina Open in February and he has the potential to be one of the game’s greatest players.
Praising the two players, Agassi said: “You have a guy like Alcaraz who can do defence like Novak can do, and offence with RPM’s and pace like Nadal and has hands like Federer and then Sinner who is one great ball striker.
“Then you have a guy like Fonseca, who you are sitting next to at a restaurant and you just wouldn’t peg him to be the nastiest thing to hit a tennis court at 18 years old.
“You can’t legislate, he is going to get crazy out there with the decisions that he makes and the same with Alcaraz.”
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