Andre Agassi swore twice at his Laver Cup press conference and joked about Britain, while revealing a ban on Alexander Bublik's showmanship. The Team World captain took just two questions before using the word "s***" for the first time, then patted himself on the back for only saying it three times.
Agassi's relaxed start
Agassi, 56, skippered Team World to victory in San Francisco in 2025 and will aim to repeat that with a youthful team at the O2 in London. Before the action got underway in the UK, he joked about needing to watch his language.
"It kind of made me realise how much intensity I lived with in my own head when I played, because emotions were my nemesis on a tennis court," Agassi said. "So I had to keep my s*** under control. Sitting on the side with all these Ferraris, not having to keep my s*** under control and they still perform, it's, like, you know, I recognised that it matters to me a lot and they matter to me a lot."
Bublik's ground rules
After noticing a reaction to his language, Agassi added: "We're in Britain. I shouldn't swear, right? You guys seemed to get really quiet when I said 's***'. Is that a problem?"
Agassi's squad is youthful, with none of his players over 29. Alexander Bublik is the oldest in the group, but the Kazakh is making his Laver Cup debut. Bublik, known for his eccentricity, said he has been given ground rules by Agassi and vice-captain Pat Rafter.
"I signed certain papers between Pat and Andre to never underarm serve here, not to smile after points, so it's really strict for me here, but I just came here to bring the good tennis and bring some laughs in," he said. "As Taylor (Team World team-mate Taylor Fritz) said in our group chat, I'm the trash-talk guy, so I'm just talking to Team Europe in case something is off. Unfortunately, no showmanship here, as I'm not allowed due to couple of talks I had with the team captains."
Opening day plans
Bublik will play both singles and doubles on the opening day of Laver Cup action on Friday. Brandon Nakashima will also be involved, having accepted a late call-up after US Open finalist Ben Shelton pulled out.
"I said to him, Ben, before you even say anything, I need you to know that nothing matters more to me than my players, and that's not just for Laver Cup but for their career," Agassi said. "I charge myself with the responsibility of hopefully again allowing them to be who they are without interfering with it first, and then maybe giving them something that they can take on with them."
Agassi also made the case for a proper off-season, adding: "I do absolutely err on the side of -- there are a lot of times in life where, it's a metaphor for life, where less is more, I think in a lot of cases tennis would benefit from that."
