Agassi ready to take up Graf's proposal for an on-court rendezvous in Paris

These days she is better known for mobile phone advertisements than her mobility around the court, but the former Wimbledon champion Steffi Graf may be preparing to make a fleeting comeback to the game in which she carved a glittering career and won 22 grand slam titles.

The 33-year-old Graf, who is married to Andre Agassi, has apparently promised her husband that, if he wins a fourth Australian Open title here this weekend, she will partner him in the mixed doubles at the French Open in May.

"For the record, and you're the first to know this, if I win here Stef has to play doubles with me in Paris," Agassi said yesterday, when asked who his dream mixed-doubles partner would be. "You can print that and I'll hold you to it."

Agassi and Graf were married in Las Vegas in October, 2001, and have a son, Jaden Gil, who is 15 months old. Graf retired in July 1999, weeks after collecting a sixth French Open title with a win over Martina Hingis in the final. She remains second on the all-time grand slam winners' list, behind Australia's Margaret Court with 24.

Agassi is favourite for the men's title after reaching the semi-finals yesterday with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over France's Sebastien Grosjean. If he wins here it will be his eighth major.