THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, No. 13

Older but so much bolder: Parenthood helps players keep perspective

By Dave Worsley
Special to tennisreporters.net

Younes El Aynaoui Siggi Bucher

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN – While having kids can drive some people crazy, it seems that parenting children can do wonders for some stars form and state of mind. And while many consider tennis to be a young sport, the proof is in the Aussie Open quarters.

The quarterfinals, that is.

It's all very well to have young stars such as Andy Roddick, James Blake and Lleyton Hewitt grabbing headlines, but when it comes to players much of public can relate to, it's over 30's.

Out of the eight players in the quarters, Younes El Aynaoui, Wayne Ferreira, Sebastian Grosjean and Andre Agassi all have children. Not a bad record for a young man's sport which is generally thought of as an ideal job for a bachelor who wants to sample the finer things in life.

The 31-year-old Ferreira has plenty of knowledge of the lifestyle and plenty of life behind him. He and his wife, Leisel, have a three-year-old, Marcus."My son changed my attitude towards the game of tennis," he said. "Before it was more of a life-and-death situation, and there was nothing worse than losing a tennis match. Now there's a lot of things worse than losing a tennis match. It's not as important, and it's more just a fun and enjoyment factor now."

In making the semis, Ferreira was in the last four for the first time in 11 years. A large majority of this year's crop in the draw were in their early teens 11 years ago.

"They (my wife and child) were here with me in Adelaide the first year, but it's just too difficult. It's hard on them. My wife doesn't want to be here. She's done with that. My son is at school. I get back home (Berkeley, California) as often as I can see them as much as I can."

Courtesy of the Agassi family

Moroccan El Aynaoui also explained that age had made him enjoy his tennis more. A quarterfinal showing at the '02 US Open and the same in Melbourne also helps.

"Last year I had my best year and all the experience from the past years is paying off now and I feel good physically and enjoying playing," said El Aynaoui, who has two son with his wife, Sophie, five-year-old Ewen and one-year-old Neil.

The 32-year-old Agassi became the eighth oldest semifinalist after defeating Sebastian Grosjean. The former No. 1 seems to relish his tennis with almost as much energy as he did when he was just a teen with long streaked hair.

"I'm enjoying my tennis and I'm finding there is so much more to life," said Agassi, who has a one-year-old son, Jaden, with his wife, Steffi Graf. "I think everything sort of gets exaggerated as you get older. You realize there's less of everything out there to experience. That includes the disappointments. Unfortunately, you need a disappointment to appreciate how good it is to get through difficult matches. I definitely enjoy it more now.