Andre Agassi is to return to professional tennis as a coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open.
The Serbian star broke up with coach Boris Becker last December, and split from the remainder of his coaching staff earlier this month. Speaking after his defeat in the Rome Masters to Alexander Zverev, Djokovic confirmed he was going to work with the eight-time Grand Slam winner.
“We don't have any long-term commitment", told the press. "It's just us trying to get to know each other in Paris a little bit. He will not stay the whole tournament. He's going to stay only to a certain time, and then we'll see after that what's going to happen. We'll see what the future brings."
Djokovic revealed that the men have been in regular conversation in recent weeks, speaking before every match the Serb played in. Although Djokovic's form has dipped this year, he revealed the link-up had more to do with his on-court form.
"He's a person that can contribute to my life on and off the court a lot. I'm very excited to see what is ahead of us. It's only a couple weeks that we are in communication, but I already feel like we are very kind of close to each other and creating this nice vibe."
"[Agassi]'s been definitely following closely all the big matches, especially on the TV. So he knows players, he knows everyone that I was playing against in the past couple of weeks... It was obviously his call whether or not he wanted to take that step and try to work with me. He has accepted it, and I'm very grateful for that."
The 47-year-old American retired in 2006, but has since stepped away from the limelight. He is based in his home town of Las Vegas with wife Steffi Graf.
While Agassi is unlikely to join Djokovic full time, the relationship could prove to be very fruitful for the Serbian's quest to win a 13th Grand Slam title.
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