American legend Andre Agassi said the International Premier Tennis League should take a lasting place in the sport despite a "shockingly uncomfortable" debut as he crashed to Mark Philippoussis on Tuesday
Andre Agassi
Singapore: American legend Andre Agassi said the International Premier Tennis League should take a lasting place in the sport despite a "shockingly uncomfortable" debut as he crashed to Mark Philippoussis on Tuesday.
Andre Agassi
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The eight-time Grand Slam winner, 44, went down 6-3 in the Legends singles as hosts the Singapore Slammers lost 21-29 to Manila Mavericks on day one of the new team competition's second leg.
Agassi likened the IPTL's quickfire format, with one-set matches hurried along by a 20-second serve clock, to the pressure of facing his arch-rival, 14-time Slam champion Pete Sampras.
"I was shockingly uncomfortable today," Agassi said. "It was just the pressure of it... So many times I felt that way against Pete because if you just lose concentration for a second on your serve, the set could be over with. And so every point was vital, that's part of the game."