Just Call Agassi the Big Ticket

As Patrick McEnroe makes his pitch to lure Andre Agassi back into the fold in time for next month’s Davis Cup tie between the U.S. and Croatia, U.S. Tennis Assn. and Home Depot Center officials seeking to sell the event to busy and finicky fans also think the eight-time Grand Slam event winner could be just the ticket.

“It’d be a great opportunity to see Andre, up close and personal, here in Los Angeles, in a big-time match,” said Bill Peterson, managing director of the Home Depot Center, where the first-round tie is scheduled for March 4-6.

McEnroe, the U.S. Davis Cup captain, would like Agassi to fill the second singles slot on a four-member team that already includes Australian Open semifinalist Andy Roddick and Camarillo residents Bob and Mike Bryan, who lost in the Australian Open doubles title match last week.

Although McEnroe met with Agassi on Monday night in Las Vegas to discuss the possibility of the player’s participation in Davis Cup matches for the first time since 2000, Agassi had yet to make a decision. Neither he nor McEnroe could be reached for comment afterward.

“The last thing I’m going to do, as a fellow player, is grill Andre all the time about it,” Roddick said in a conference call Tuesday. “But you know, I have talked to him. We have discussed it. I’ve let him know that I’m 100% supportive, if he wants to join us.”

There is little doubt Agassi would help fill the Home Depot Center tennis stadium’s 8,000 seats. He is 30-5 in Davis Cup matches and has been on three U.S. teams that won titles.

“If they can get him to commit and they can get the ticket out and the billboards out with Andre and Andy, I think it’ll be no problem,” Bob Bryan said. “But I think it’s tougher here. There’s so much going on in L.A. that people don’t like to commit to their tickets two weeks in advance.”

That is just what Jeff Ryan, the USTA director of team events, would like to see.

“We’re at a time when the Australian Open is now over and things are going to start focusing on tennis back here,” he said. “We’re drawing closer to the event and people are going to start paying attention more.”

The USTA, which began selling tickets in three-day packages Jan. 18, certainly hopes so.

Ryan would not discuss specific sales or dollar figures but said that 35% of seats are spoken for, with 25% allotted to sponsors.

“We’re right at the beginning of that last month,” Ryan said. “The key for me is March 4, to have the place full.”