Inside 8-time Wimbledon champs Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf’s romantic 23-year marriage

You can’t get much more of a tennis power couple than Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, who have now been married for 23 years. 

Andre, who has been commentating for the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon this year, and Steffi first met in 1992, but their love story actually goes back a little further than that. Scroll down for a full timeline of their 30-year romance…

Andre had a ‘crush’ on Steffi before they met

The eight-time Grand Slam winner revealed that he had actually begun to develop a crush on his future wife before the two were able to meet in person.

“I’ve had a crush on Steffi since I first saw her doing an interview on French TV,” Andre revealed in his 2009 memoir, Open. He continued: “I was thunderstruck, dazzled by her understated grace, her effortless beauty.” 

© GettyAndre and Steffi met in 1992

After the French Open in 1991, he tried to get a message to her, but, according to his book, she didn’t respond at the time.

Andre and Steffi were formally introduced in 1992

After winning his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon, Andre was introduced to Steffi, who had won the ladies’ singles that year. 

They didn’t meet again until seven years later, in 1999, when their coaches arranged for them to meet again. 

© GettyAndre and Steffi were pictured at a boxing match together shortly after they started dating in 1999

“Our coaches kind of set up this whole practice,” Steffi revealed in an interview with Vijay Amritraj. “I was like, ‘Why does he want to practice with me?’ He’s married. I’ve got a boyfriend. It was all a little confusing to me.”

At the time, she was oblivious to the fact that Andre was going through a divorce with his then-wife Brooke Shields, which she found out a few weeks later.

The pair began dating soon afterwards

Andre and Steffi began dating in the same year, and got married in October 2001. In his memoir, the tennis legend revealed that they had a very private ceremony, exchanging vows in their own backyard.

© GettyAndre and Steffi welcomed their first child shortly after their wedding in 2001

Just days later, they welcomed their first child, son Jaden. Two years afterwards, in 2002, their second child, a daughter named Jaz, was born.

In 2004, Andre made an incredibly moving tribute to his wife Steffi during a speech for her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

He declared: “As I attempt to find words worthy to introduce the person that has changed my life, I realise the words have yet to be invented that are large enough, colourful enough, or true enough to express the heart and soul of this woman that I love.”

And, nearly 24 years after their marriage, the love is as strong as ever, with the pair still sharing the occasional loved-up photo for their fans to see.

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