A Secret Wedding for Tennis Greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf

Agassi and Graf began their romance in 1999. Both were recently out of relationships, his two-year marriage to Brooke Shields ended in divorce and her seven-year relationship with Michael Bartels, a German race car driver, broke up. Agassi has stated that he was very persistent and pretty soon the couple moved into Agassi’s home in Las Vegas. By June, she was wearing a gold band on her ring finger and rumors were rampant of an upcoming wedding.

The uninvited family members weren’t surprised by the wedding or hurt for not being invited, but it is not clear to anyone why the couple rushed to the altar. Agassi withdrew suddenly from a tournament in Switzerland to be with Graf who is on bed rest and is experiencing some discomfort. Agassi was quoted as saying that they preferred to be married before becoming parents. In a recent interview with People magazine, Agassi implied that he and Graf felt it wouldn’t be right to have a child out of wedlock. So the couple was married in a private ceremony at their Las Vegas home by Agassi’s family friend, District Judge Michael Cherry, who presided over the civil ceremony.

The couple now divides their time between their Las Vegas home and their new hilltop estate in San Francisco. They are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child, a baby boy, and are expected to delay honeymoon plans until after his arrival.