LOS ANGELES -- Andre Agassi may be taking up juggling as a second sport as he looks for the perfect balance between tennis and fatherhood.

	“	...rumor has it infants eat and sleep, so the travel (to the Australian Open in January) might be very possible. But that would be the last thing I'd want to miss. Just pray for everything to be healthy and good and go from there. It seems everything is in order to work out perfectly. ”
		— Andre Agassi, defending Australian Open champion

Agassi and tennis legend Steffi Graf, who have been constant companions for the last two years, announced on July 12 that they were expecting a son in mid-December.

"My goal has always been to play this game as well as I can play as long as I can," said Agassi, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, who is the No. 3 seed this week at the Mercedes Benz Cup at Los Angeles. "My goal has always been to have a family and fulfill my dreams."

Agassi, 31, doesn't know what to expect as he embarks on fatherhood with Graf. The couple has not announced plans to marry.

"I've never been a father before, so I can't quite tell you how I'm going to respond to the whole thing," he said. "I don't know how it's all going to pan out. I feel a strong sense of responsibility and obligation to the game, and a strong desire for it. I'll do my best to keep it balanced.

"But I must say already I can identify with a certain level of prioritizing. With that being said, I think it's possible to succeed in both arenas. I know I'll get a lot of support from Stef, so that's a good thing."

The announcement of the pending birth has received well-wishes from around the globe.

"I think our privacy has been compromised a little bit, but outside of that it's been a lot of wonderful support," Agassi said.

He says he hasn't received much advice on bringing up the baby, "but I tend to keep my eyes and ears open to everybody."

Agassi has no intention of pushing his son into playing tennis, "but I got to believe if mom and dad are banging the ball around, he might just want to jump in."

There have been questions whether the birth would force Agassi to miss defending his Australian Open crown in January.

"I can't say, but rumor has it infants eat and sleep, so the travel might be very possible," the former world No. 1 said. "But that would be the last thing I'd want to miss. Just pray for everything to be healthy and good and go from there. It seems everything is in order to work out perfectly."

Agassi is in his first action since his loss last month at Wimbledon. He has not played since falling to Patrick Rafter in the semifinals at the All-England Club. A champion here in 1998 and runner-up in 1988 and 1999, he has won three titles this season -- the Australian Open and a pair of Tennis Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami.