Count tennis legend Andre Agassi among the legions of fans who admire Chinese baskeball star Yao Ming.

The career Grand Slam tennis champion is here this week competing at the ATP Masters Cup while 7-foot-6 giant Yao and his Houston Rockets teammates are in the midst of a National Basketball Association homestand.

"I always root for Yao," Agassi said Sunday. "Watching him is always a treat. I watch the Rockets whenever I get the chance. It's great watching him in the NBA. He makes a lot of other people look short."

Yao was the top selection in last year's NBA Draft, the first player from international basketball so honored. He has helped revive the struggling club and made the league even more popular throughout Asia.

"He has brought a lot more interest to basketball," Agassi said. "I like anybody who has that sort of impact on a game."

Agassi then made Yao a rare offer, one that might find the Chinese goliath seated beside Agassi's wife Steffi Graf one day in a Grand Slam spectator's section.

"He can sit in my box," Agassi said.

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