KEY POINTS:
For a place built as much on the profits of sharp practice as the sand on which it stands, the people of Las Vegas have long been able to feel better about themselves because of ex-tennis champion Andre Agassi, the city's most revered resident.
But now a bizarre
and ugly court battle between Perry Rogers, Agassi's oldest friend and long-time business partner, and Steffi Graf, Agassi's wife and fellow tennis champion, threatens to tarnish the reputation of the city's favourite son.
"The nastiest Las Vegas break-up in years has the city buzzing with speculation," says Norm Clark, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
What has stunned Las Vegas observers is that Rogers has sued Graf for the relatively measly sum of US$50,000 ($92,000), allegedly for being a few weeks behind paying his management fee.
The lawsuit threatens to blow open the couple's finances to the world and has already revealed that Graf had an account with one investment bank worth more than US$20 million.
"I am both saddened and disappointed to learn that Perry has filed a lawsuit and sadder still that he has sued my wife, Stefanie," said Agassi.
"I remain hopeful that we will be able to resolve our business issues with minimal damage to our families and mutual friends.
"It's like a divorce in many ways. I still don't think I'm in a place where I can process this yet. None of it is easy. At the end of the day, you try to get through it as responsibly as possible. I certainly love my wife more than life itself and will be there for her during this time."
Long-time Las Vegas observers believe that there had been simmering tensions between Graf and Rogers. They say that Graf, who became more closely involved in her husband's finances after her father was sentenced to nearly four years in jail for tax evasion, was troubled by the way Rogers had handled some business investments for the couple, particularly after a real estate deal went sour.
To the outside world, Agassi, 38, is known as the prematurely bald tennis wonder who fought his way back near the end of his career to finish with eight Grand Slam wins and more than US$30 million in lifetime tennis earnings.
He retired in 2006 after losing in the third round of the US Open. Having been married before to actress Brooke Shields, everyone was thrilled when his fairytale tennis romance to fellow champ Steffi Graf, now 39, resulted in marriage seven years ago. The couple have two children. But to the good citizens of Las Vegas, Agassi is more than just a native son. He is royalty, a prince among men. He is now appreciated more for what he has done off the court than he is for his remarkable tennis career. Through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which Agassi founded in 1994 with Rogers, Agassi has raised more than US$70 million, mainly to help disadvantaged children. Until he resigned in October, Rogers also ran all Agassi's business affairs as president of Andre Agassi Enterprises. From the end of 2002, Rogers was also Graf's manager and agent.
Where Agassi prefers to keep out of the limelight and is seldom seen at high-profile Las Vegas events, Rogers was his public face and the two seemed to share a trust that can only come through decades of friendship.
The first inkling of a problem came in October when Agassi and Rogers announced they were severing their business ties. At the time both insisted they had taken the decision because they didn't want to lose their friendship.
"Andre and I both feel that at the end of the day it's about our friendship first. It's not about the number of zeroes in the bank account," said Rogers.
The lawsuit Rogers has filed against Graf now suggests otherwise.
"There are countless more layers to this than a sum of money that is minuscule in the vastness that is Agassi Enterprises and Graf's own holdings," said Ed Graney, who writes for the Review-Journal and knows both Agassi and Rogers.
WORTHWHILE DEALS
The businesses Perry Rogers managed for Andre Agassi included enterprises that have made Agassi a very rich man. He still has a sportswear deal with adidas, has major real estate investments in Idaho, is a partner in several restaurants and nightclubs in Las Vegas, including the nightclub Pure which is co-owned with Celine Dion, Shaquille O'Neal and Steffi Graf. Last year Agassi sold a property he owned in California for US$20 million.
He owns two houses in the swanky Spanish Hills neighbourhood in Las Vegas, where homes are worth up to US$10 million, and a third lot which has a tennis court. Last year Agassi paid property taxes of more than US$10,000 on the couple's primary residence.
- OBSERVER