Tennis Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf made their living going after grand slams -- winning a combined 30 between them. Their son Jaden wants to avoid them at all costs. That's because Jaden, a 23-year-old graduate of USC, didn't follow in the family footsteps, grabbing a glove instead of a racket. Now, he'll get to show off his skills as a member of Team Germany -- where Graf was born -- at the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Tucson, Ariz.
"Agassi is a very tennis last name, of course," Jaden told WKBN News. "The goal is to try to make it a baseball one."
In Europe, tennis can often be a gateway to baseball. (Indeed, that's how Czechia national team manager Pavel Chadim came to the game.) That wasn't the case for Agassi, who was born in Las Vegas. Though his earliest sporting memory is running onto the court to greet his father after a victory at the U.S. Open, for Jaden, it's always been about baseball.
"I started playing baseball when I was six years old in T-ball," Agassi told MLB.com over the phone. "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."
While his mother may have the edge in singles titles, his father has the edge when in the batter's box.
"I've got to give the edge to my dad," Jaden said with a laugh. "He did a Nike commercial way back where he's taking batting practice at Fenway, which is funny. He treats it like a backhand and crushes it."
Dad may have the power, but it's his mother's confidence that has influenced him most when on the mound.
"I think I'm a lot like my mom in the sense of my composure," Agassi said. "I've always been just very composed and cool, calm and collected out there. I try to have a short memory. My mindset is the next pitch is the most important one."
Beyond his tennis star parents, Agassi's path to reach this point has been unique as well. After pitching on travel teams in his freshman and sophomore years of high school, Agassi suffered an injury in his first outing for Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas which required Tommy John surgery. That meant he missed out entirely on the 2019 season before the 2020 campaign was canceled due to COVID. That meant he had no time to prepare or improve his skills before heading to USC to continue his baseball career.
“I entered college with the ability to be a decent pitcher, but I was a thrower," Agassi told the Tribune Chronicle last summer. "And because of lost time I was behind the eight ball. But at USC I was blessed with some great coaches who began teaching me the art of pitching.”
Though his numbers in college don't look great -- Agassi posted a 6.20 ERA across 117 2/3 innings -- the athleticism and natural stuff was there. After pitching for the Santa Barbara Foresters in the California Collegiate League in 2023, Agassi joined the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the MLB Draft League last year and broke out. Throwing primarily a low-90s sinker that can touch 94, along with a mid-80s changeup and slider, Agassi finished the season with a 2.96 ERA and 9.2 K/9, even earning Player of the Week honors on July 8.
Growing up, Agassi would visit Germany about twice a year to visit his mother's family, even learning to speak some German before enrolling in classes at USC. Now, he'll get to show off those language skills and do his mother proud when he suits up for the German national team at the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers beginning on March 2 in Tucson.
"I'm so excited," Agassi said. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little boy to compete on an international scale. [I want to] make my mom proud, make Germany proud and do them right."