“A piece of tennis history comes alive when two such players walk out onto court. Andre Agassi in particular made his mark on the game over many years and played some unforgettable matches,” said Tournament Director Markus Günthardt. “The Berenberg Classics is an integral part of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and a further highlight for our spectators in the Porsche Arena to look forward to. When Pete Sampras played here last year, many thought it couldn’t get any better. But it’s been topped by Andre Agassi.”

The American with his wild, long mane and garish clothes at the start of his career was not only a flamboyant character. He was also one of the best tennis players of all time. During the course of a career of highs and lows, he won 60 tournaments, eight Grand Slams and headed the world rankings for a total of 101 weeks. He also secured the Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. He has been married to Steffi Graf since 2001 and lives with his family in Las Vegas. The 44-year old has a score to settle with the Austrian Thomas Muster, the 1995 French Open winner. When playing for Team USA against the Austrian in the semi-final of the 1990 Davis Cup, he suffered an unexpected defeat against the clay court specialist and former world No. 1 (1996).

There is huge interest in the Duel of the Legends and it is quite likely that there will be a capacity crowd in the Porsche Arena. “Tennis fans know that tennis’ big names come to Stuttgart for the Berenberg Classics and that they’ll again serve up some exciting tennis entertainment,” said Oliver Holtz, the manager of the Berenberg Bank’s Stuttgart branch. “After legends like McEnroe, Wilander, Lendl, Edberg and Sampras, we can this year look forward to Andre Agassi und Thomas Muster.”