Agassi: Roddick Is One Of Sport's Top Competitors

Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick are former practice partners who remain the last American men to capture Grand Slam singles titles — Agassi won the 2003 Australian Open and Roddick won the 2003 US Open — and Agassi views his former Davis Cup teammate Roddick as one of the best competitors in sport.

"The standard is pretty high and the sport is growing. . . . As a result, we're not seeing quite the same level of dominance with the talent that's out there now, with Federer and Nadal," Agassi told Lily Leung of AZ Central.com. "But I think Roddick has represented our sport in a great way. I think he's one of the greatest competitors, not just in tennis but also in sports. . . . It wouldn't be right to not have an American somewhere in the near future step up and really put their stamp on the game. That's what you hope."

Asked if Kim Clijsters' US Open title triumph earlier this month and Justine Henin's plans to return to tournament tennis might inspire him to launch a comeback, the 39-year-old Agassi replied: "That would be negative. No, no. I'm sure Kim has inspired a lot of people. But she can't inspire this 39-year-old who understands their weaknesses much better than their strengths."

Agassi will take on Mikael Pernfors of Sweden in the opening round of the 2009 Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprize, Ariz., to be played October 8-11. The match will mark Agassi's debut match on the Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships at Surprise will feature a field of eight champion players competing in a single knock-out format event over four days competing for $150,000 in prize money and ranking points that determine the year-end No. 1 ranked player on the Outback Champions Series. John McEnroe won the inaugural event in 2008 in Surprise defeating Todd Martin in the final. Agassi will be the eighth former world No. 1 to compete on the Outback Champions Series joining Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Pat Rafter, Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander, Thomas Muster and McEnroe.