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Tag: Steffi Graf

  • Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf are ‘couple goals’ as he shares heartfelt note and photos to celebrate the ‘love of his life’

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    Andre Agassi shared a sweet note dedicated to his wife Steffi Graf to celebrate the “love of his life” on Valentine’s Day.

    The tennis legend took to social media to share a carousel of pictures of the duo, including one of himself romantically kissing a huge hallway picture of Steffi, as she happily held up her Grand Slam trophy.

    The other featured pictures showed the pair playing tennis together when they were younger and more recently.

    © Instagram
    Andre shared a sweet post online

    He captained the shot: “Happy Valentine’s Day to the love of my life, my unicorn,” with a heart emoji.

    Fans loved the thoughtful gesture and flocked to the comments to show their support. One follower wrote: “Couple goals,” while another wrote: “My 13-year-old self prayed SO hard for this union. My 48-year-old self still cannot believe it really happened!”

    A third fan commented: “Two champions, one GIGANTIC love story,” while another added: “Absolutely love Seeing two legends fall in love.”

    He shared a throwback picture of the duo© Instagram
    He shared a throwback picture of the duo

    This isn’t the first time that Andre has romantically gushed about his wife online. For their anniversary back in October 2025, he captioned a moving carousel of the duo enjoying a night out and a throwback to them holding up their trophies together.

    He captioned it: “24 years with this wonderful woman. Happy Anniversary Steffi, you are my unicorn!”

    Andre had a crush on Steffi way before they were together. He revealed in his memoir titled Open: “I’ve had a crush on Steffi since I first saw her doing an interview on French TV. I was thunderstruck, dazzled by her understated grace, her effortless beauty.”

    This isn't the first time that he's gushed about his wife© Instagram
    This isn’t the first time that he’s gushed about his wife

    He sent her a message in 1991, however “she didn’t respond.” The following year after he won Wimbledon, he looked forward to meeting her at the Wimbledon Ball but it was canceled. 

    He recalled: “I don’t get to dance with Steffi, but there will be a kind of consolation match: a formal introduction. I look forward to it all night. Then it happens.”

    He previously shared another throwback of the pair© Instagram
    He previously shared another throwback of the pair

    Andre continued: “Shaking her hand, I tell Steffi that I tried to reach her at last year’s French Open and I hope she didn’t misunderstand my intentions. I say, ‘I’d really love to talk with you some time.’”

    Their coaches set up a tennis practice for them in 1999, however, she had a boyfriend at the time and he was going through a divorce from Brooke Shields.

    It all worked out in the end, and the two got married in 2001, and then days after tying the knot, she gave birth to their first child Jaden Gil Agassi in 2001, and then Jaz Elle Agassi two years later.

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  • Sabalenka stuns Swiatek, faces Garcia for WTA Finals title

    Sabalenka stuns Swiatek, faces Garcia for WTA Finals title

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    FORT WORTH, Texas — Aryna Sabalenka stood stoically ever so briefly, before crouching for an emphatic fist pump to go with a scream.

    Yeah, the seventh-ranked woman in the eight-player WTA Finals couldn’t hide the emotion, because she knew exactly what she had done.

    Sabalenka ended world No. 1 Iga Swiatek’s 15-match winning streak against top-10 opponents, taking a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory in the semifinals of the season-ending event Sunday night.

    The stunner puts Sabalenka in final Monday night against No. 6 Caroline Garcia, who streamrolled Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 and can become just the second Frenchwoman to win WTA Finals after Amelie Mauresmo in 2005.

    Swiatek, the French Open and U.S. Open champion and runaway leader with eight tour victories, cruised through three round-robin victories, losing just 13 games to give her the longest winning run against top-10 opponents since Steffi Graf won 17 straight in 1987.

    Just like that, it was over when the 21-year-old from Poland lost the last five games against a player she had beaten in all four meetings this season.

    Sabalenka was No. 1 when she beat Swiatek in round-robin play at last year’s WTA Finals, but neither player made the semifinals.

    With that much out of the way for both, Sabalenka showed how comfortable she was on the temporary indoor hard court at Dickies Arena. Nine of her 10 career victories have come on hard courts.

    “I just want to make sure that every time she plays against me, she knows that she really has to work hard to get a win,” said Sabalenka, whose fourth loss this year to Swiatek was a three-setter in the U.S. Open semifinals. “Only because of this thinking, I was able to play at this amazing level tonight.”

    Swiatek fell behind one break in the final set with two wide forehands before another one put her down two breaks. Sabalenka gave herself a match point with her 12th and final ace, then hit another serve so good, Swiatek’s lunging return was wide and long.

    After a tour-best 67 victories and a 37-match unbeaten run from February to June that was the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter-century, this wasn’t quite the ending Swiatek had in mind.

    “In the third, I just started making mistakes from shots that I wouldn’t make mistakes usually,” Swiatek said. “At the beginning of the first set, I just wanted to be kind of focused. Maybe I didn’t realize soon enough that I should be more pepped up.”

    Garcia was playing just 24 hours after beating Daria Kasatkina in a tense 80-minute third set to secure the last spot in the semifinals, but needed just 74 minutes total for a career-best fourth victory over a top-five opponent this season.

    Garcia never trailed, dominating the fifth-ranked Sakkari in winners (21-8) and aces (6-0).

    “I don’t know,” Garcia said when asked where she found the energy to dominate after the quick turnaround. “Yesterday, I was a little bit tired, but it was nothing unusual after such a big match.”

    Garcia has advanced out of group play in both WTA Finals appearances. The 29-year-old lost in the semifinals in the eight-player event five years ago, which also was the most recent time a player older than Garcia reached the semis (Venus Williams).

    “I guess I’m five years older, maybe five years wiser,” said Garcia, who was No. 74 about this time last year. “You try to learn from everything. I’ve got a good team behind me, supporting me when I was a little bit doubting myself.”

    Sakkari also was among the five players who have reached the semis their first two times since the round-robin format was reintroduced in 2003. She lost in the semis last year.

    Garcia used a 120 mph ace to help erase a break chance for Sakkari and extend her lead to 4-0 in the second set.

    Garcia’s sixth and final ace answered a double fault that gave Sakkari another break point. Garcia closed out that game for a 5-1 lead on the way to a 3-0 career record against Sakkari.

    Sakkari had three straight-set victories in the tournament after coming in with just one win over a top-10 opponent this season.

    The 27-year-old from Greece never recovered after dropping her first set of the week, finishing with 11 more unforced errors (19) than winners.

    “Not taking away anything from her, I played a very average match from my side,” said Sakkari, who didn’t qualify for the WTA Finals until the final event of the regular season. “I wasn’t sharp. I wasn’t energized.”

    Defending doubles champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova advanced to the title match with a 7-6(5), 6-2 semifinal victory over Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko.

    The Czech duo will play Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, 6-1, 6-1 winners over Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs.

    The event was moved to Texas from China over concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former government official there of sexual assault. Coronavirus restrictions also played a part in the decision. It’s the first WTA Finals in the U.S. since 2005.

    . ———

    AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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