Stockholm (Sweden), Sept 27: Andre Agassi withdrew from next month's Stockholm Open and two other European tennis tournaments to spend the time with his wife, former German tennis great Steffi Graf, who is expecting the couple's second child in mid-November, officials have said. "His agent, Perry Rogers, called us today, and obviously we're very disappointed," Stockholm Open tournament director Per Hjertquist said yesterday.
"However, neither we nor anybody else are in a position to criticise Agassi for taking time off to be with his family," he added.
The Stockholm Open is scheduled for October 20-26 at the Royal Tennis Hall. Agassi played only once in the Stockholm Open, one of the world's oldest indoor tournaments. He lost to eventual finalist Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia after a narrow 10-8 score in the final-set tiebreak in 1994, when the event was held at the Globe Arena.
"I'm sorry that I will not be participating in the Stockholm tournament, but hopefully I will return in the future," Agassi told the organisers.
The American, ranked fourth in the world and also fourth in the champions race, has already clinched a spot in the season-ending Masters Cup in Houston, Texas, from November 8 to 16.
Agassi also pulled out of the Tennis Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris next month, according to the Stockholm Open website. Agassi and Graf married in October 2001 and their first child, Jaden Gil, was born later that month. They live in Las Vegas. Bureau Report