Andre Agassi left Dubai last weekend, disappointed to have lost a semi-final to Roger Federer but delighted with the possibility of being a sort of self-styled ambassador for West Asia.
Agassi, whose father Mike represented Iran as an Olympic boxer, claimed to be amazed at the cosmopolitan culture and prosperity of the fast-developing Emirate and appears to believe he might help change some American perceptions.
“It’s been an incredible week... and it’s taught me a lot being here. You see so many different people living together peacefully that it’s amazing to watch and it’s a privilege to be here,” he said. “If I were to take a message back home it would be ‘Come to West Asia before you form any opinions.’”
Agassi is saying that he will bring his wife, tennis legend Steffi Graf, and his children the next time he comes, which will apparently happen whether or not he decides to play in the 2006 Dubai Open at the age of nearly 36.
He has also admitted he is trying to line up some kind of business deal in Dubai and there is said to be a possibility that he might buy a holiday home, only 250 miles across the Gulf from his father’s country of birth.
{{/usCountry}}He has also admitted he is trying to line up some kind of business deal in Dubai and there is said to be a possibility that he might buy a holiday home, only 250 miles across the Gulf from his father’s country of birth.
{{/usCountry}}Agassi was visibly moved by the way a multi-racial West Asian crowd reacted to him, an American, when he was playing.
As well as proving an even bigger draw than world No. 1 Roger Federer, with many unable to get into Dubai’s 5,000 capacity centre court when he was playing, Agassi continually brought a tumultuous response.
His visit to Dubai has included a viewing of the city from a 700-foot high helipad, where a tennis court was specially laid down for him, a meeting with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid, the Crown Prince, and a stay at the world’s only seven-star hotel. That is the Burj Al Arab, in which every room is a duplex suite with a butler, and which boasts an underwater sea-food restaurant. It was evidently to Agassi’s taste.