The Associated Press

PARIS - After a French Open practice session, Andre Agassi called over his racket guru, looking for some advice.

Not for himself, mind you. For Nicolas Kiefer, his hitting partner - and a possible future opponent.

"I'll accept 'Thanks,' any time," Agassi told Kiefer through a broad smile. "Any time."

Agassi is tennis' elder statesman, offering guidance, dispensing opinions, lending perspective. And he just keeps winning, too.

When play starts Monday at the French Open, he'll be the only man who has a chance of winning a Grand Slam this year, thanks to his Australian Open victory.

But don't go looking for a boastful claim about his chances at Roland Garros.

He's too wise for that.

"I'm never confident. I'm not that sort of guy," Agassi said. "I have to go out and earn it every day."

He has done that quite often this year, going 23-2 and collecting four titles. More impressively, he returned to No. 1 briefly around the time of his 33rd birthday in April, making him the oldest player to lead the ATP Tour rankings.

"Inside the lines, I don't see age," Agassi said after beating 20-year-old Andy Roddick to win the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship. "It's about what your game is that you have to bring to the table. You have to deal with somebody else, and they have to deal with you, no matter how old you are."

And now he's working on completing a second career Grand Slam. Agassi already owns two titles at the U.S. Open and four at the Australian Open, to go with his trophies from the 1999 French Open and 1992 Wimbledon.

His experience and stature in the game make him a natural to act as a mentor to younger players.

"Andre's a very generous guy with all the players," said Jay Schweid, the racket expert called on to assist Kiefer. "He's very keen to help all the guys."

It makes sense for someone such as Kiefer or Guillermo Coria, another of Agassi's training partners at Roland Garros, to turn to him with questions. Agassi's usually willing to chat - and listen.

"I'm not scared to give (advice), and I'm not worried about someone giving me their opinion or pointing something out," Agassi said.

He'll probably seek some counsel for himself before his first-round match in Paris.

Friday's draw put Agassi against Karol Beck, a Slovak who has won just one Grand Slam match.

"I don't know much about him," Agassi acknowledged. "I guess I'll have to do some asking around and find out from other players."