Love Match: A Baby for Agassi, Graf

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/13/2001 at 05:03 PM EDT

Tennis stars Andre Agassi, 31, and his partner of two years, Steffi Graf, 32, confirmed on Thursday that they are expecting a baby, following a German newspaper's reports that Graf's mother, Heidi Graf, had told her friends that her daughter was pregnant. "This is a very exciting time for us," Agassi said in a statement. "We are so happy to have been blessed with this gift." The baby, due in mid-December, will be a first for both. "I do not know what their plans are for marriage," said Agassi Enterprises spokesman Todd Wilson. Agassi, the third-ranked men's player in the world, and former World No 1 Graf, who retired after the 1999 Wimbledon tournament, have been living in Agassi's Las Vegas home and recently bought a $23 million home in the San Francisco Bay area. Agassi was married to actress Brooke Shields from 1997 to 1999.