Tennis Legend Andre Agassi, 55, Wins Pro Debut at U.S. Open Pickleball Championships

Andre Agassi's days as a tennis pro are long behind him, but the eight-time Grand Slam champion found another avenue to potentially become a U.S. Open winner.

A day after celebrating his 55th birthday, Agassi teamed up with Anna Leigh Waters to prevail in the second round of the mixed pro doubles tournament at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships. They took down Stevie Petropouleas and Tristan Dussault in three sets, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7.

Agassi is one of the most decorated American players in men's tennis history. He won Wimbledon in 1992 at the age of 22 and added two more Grand Slam titles by the time he was 25.

Having hit a nadir professionally in 1997, Agassi enjoyed an improbable comeback that returned him to the top of the sport. When he won the 2003 Australian Open at 32, he was the oldest Grand Slam champion since Ken Rosewall in 1972.

Agassi retired from tennis in 2006.

With the rapid growth of pickleball, the Las Vegas native was presented with a golden opportunity to rediscover his competitiveness on the court.

"I have this conflict, like I can't tell. Is this fun? Is this anxiety?" he said ahead of his pro debut, per Dan DeLuca of the Naples Daily News. "There's probably a lot of tennis players, peers of mine, that are looking forward to seeing a slow motion train wreck on my side of the court."

Given his lack of experience, Agassi set a modest goal for himself before the U.S. Open got underway.

"A win for me will be when this is over that Anna Leigh looks at me and says, 'Do you want to play again,'" he said. "That would be cool."

Agassi and Waters will face off with Trang Huynh-McClain and Len Fang in the third round.