Steffi Graf with Jaz and (Above) Jaden

New York, Sept. 9 (AP): Andre Agassi has his priorities straight: kids first, then tennis.

Though he laboured long into the night to beat James Blake in an epic five-setter, Agassi was up early yesterday to play with his two toddlers before heading back to the practice courts for a semi-final tune-up.

Before going to sleep at 4.15 am, three hours after finishing off Blake, Agassi told wife Steffi Graf not to keep their son Jaden and daughter Jaz from waking him in the morning.

“When you’re young, you can sleep in till 12,” Agassi said after a 30-minute practice session in the afternoon. “When you’re older, your body clock goes off, you’re up early anyhow.

“I told Stef I wanted the kids jumping on me as soon as they can. She fought them off until about 8.15. Jaden comes in and wants to get under the blankets and make a house out of it.

“My little daughter asks me if I want coffee, because she’s big on helping me make my coffee.”

What Agassi appreciates most about having children is that they keep him grounded in reality. Although Jaden, almost four, was seen pointing to a picture of Agassi in a hallway at the Open earlier in the tournament, exclaiming that it was “daddy”, his children are blissfully unaware of their parents’ star power.

“You realise when you have special moments they don’t quite absorb it,” Agassi said. “They’re not interested in your dramas. They need you for a few things, and you just count on each other.”

Graf, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, made an easy transition from her former life as a superstar to the more traditional roles of wife and mother.

Agassi acknowledges, though, that Graf’s familiarity with what it takes to play at the highest level enables him to keep going.

“How she helps me is with understanding the subtleties required to accomplish this task,” said Agassi, who has won “only” eight Grand Slam titles, including two US Opens.