Australian Open champion Andre Agassi has said he is devastated by the death of former Australia cricketer David Hookes and wants to honour a commitment he made to speak to Hookes' team.
The American former world number one said Hookes had approached his Australian coach Darren Cahill just before the Australian Open began this week about the possibility of him making a motivational address to the Victoria state cricket side.
Hookes, a swashbuckling former Test batsman, died in hospital on Monday after suffering serious head injuries in an assault outside a Melbourne hotel late on Sunday.
The 48-year-old Hookes had been rushed to hospital in a coma and never recovered consciousness. He and his Victoria players had been celebrating a win over South Australia in a match earlier on Sunday.
"It's just affected everybody at the tournament," Agassi told The Herald Sun newspaper on Wednesday.
"I tell you, it's a tragedy to me. It's a shame that anybody would have to sort of go through that, him or his family."
"I'm just devastated by it," said Agassi, who is in Melbourne chasing his fifth Australian Open crown.
He said he had never met Hookes but was aware of his standing in Australian sport.
He said Hookes had approached Cahill late last year and again just before the January 19-February 1 tournament.
Cahill had told Hookes it was probably too close to the tournament to make firm arrangements but that Agassi was still interested in talking to the Victoria players.
Agassi said on Wednesday he still wanted to talk to the players, even though it may not be until next year.
"I would love to," Agassi said.
"I can't honestly say that I could sit people down in a room and keep their amusement or attention for very long," he said.
"But if it was something that the guys would be interested in and something that they would enjoy sort of chatting with me about, I would enjoy that," he said.
