Whilst being in Las Vegas, preparing for the Tennis Channel Open, I was fortunate enough to have a couple of practice sessions with one of my idols, Andre Agassi.

Over the years, Andre and I have had a lot of practice sessions however these were quite different. It was the first time we’d hit since Andre retired from professional tennis after the 2006 US Open.

In my opinion, Andre was the best natural ball striker who has ever picked up a tennis racket and during our sessions he showed that this was still the case.

I’ve always admired how Andre went about his business and again was impressed how he was ready to go from the minute he’d stepped onto the practice court. There was always a purpose for every drill we did and the intensity was amazing.

It was a great opportunity to not only hit with one of the greatest ever players but also to discuss a lot of things about my game and how the game of tennis is being played these days.

One of the biggest advantages of speaking with Andre was finding out a lot of things that he see’s through being a player that’s just retired.

He’s always been a great thinker out on the court and was always able to work out different ways of breaking his opponents down.

He’s always been a great role model for young kids to look up to and not only done amazing things on the tennis court but he’s raised an amazing amount of money for so many charities over the years.

It was a fantastic experince to be able to spend time with him again, and one I'm grateful for.

(For more pictures of Lleyton with Andre please see his Gallery section under Las Vegas)