taking the sporting blame…

The King and Queen of tennis, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, are committing acts of “treason” in not forcing their children to play tennis, according to the president of the International Tennis Federation.

Agassi revealed in an interview that he and his wife, German tennis legend Steffi, had no plans to coerce their offspring into picking up a racket, describing the sport as “weird”.

But the ITF’s Francesco Ricci Bitti hit back at Agassi’s comments, calling them “sacrilegious”, and an affront to the game that had given him and his wife so much.

“I think Agassi, great player as he was, is being selfish and inconsiderate by only thinking about himself and his legacy,” Bitti said.

“With such outstanding tennis genes, these children could be fucking awesome, but instead they’ll probably just go down the avenue of mediocrity, in low-paying blue collar jobs that don’t do them justice.”

“This is fucking treason if you ask me,” Bitti continued to no one in particular.

Meanwhile, Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert, who convinced the American to pursue Graf back in 1999 after his divorce from actress Brooke Shields, has revealed he only did so in the hope the future couple might produce an insanely talented child, whom Gilbert would then coach and reap rich rewards from.

“I knew Agassi had lucked out with Brooke, she was 6″ tall and gorgeous, but instead of telling him to work things out I thought I’d nudge him towards Steffi,” Gilbert confessed to ThePublicApology.

“I really thought that with Agassi’s court coverage and Steffi’s tenacity and lethal backhand the future child would be a born superstar, and would require little coaching.”

Agassi’s revealed in his autobiography, Open, that he hated tennis and considered quitting several times.

And it seems he doesn’t want his children to suffer the same loneliness that he experienced as a child growing up under a heavyhanded father/coach.

“My dad drilled me as a youngster and I don’t want my kids to have to go through anything like that,” Agassi told reporters.

“If my boy wants to shovel shit for a living, or get grossly underpaid in some low level bureaucratic office job, then that’s his prerogative.”

The Agassi’s two children, Jaden and Jaz, are instead following other pursuits, with Jaden excelling at baseball and Jaz taking a liking to horse riding and hip hop dancing.

Disgruntled tennis fans have flooded online forums to express their displeasure, with Agassi being branded a traitor and a “lazy parent”.

“What an unpatriotic prick,” tweeted @BeckerFan1989.