LOS ANGELES — Wayne Gretzky had a few minutes to spare the other day before he and his wife Janet were about to have lunch with another great Canadian athlete. But it wasn’t one of the hockey players from the Edmonton Oilers or another current NHLer. Instead, it was tennis player Bianca Andreescu, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in town before the tour grind resumes in Australia.



Gretzky, through and through, is an avid sports fan. Long before his youngest child, Emma, a ranked player, started playing the junior tennis circuit, we would talk about the fascinating twists and turns of the tennis world. In many ways, Gretzky has often reminded me of Pete Sampras, unfailingly modest and curious about their sport and its history.



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Beyond that, Gretzky is deeply invested in hockey’s past, present and future. He has been in many commercials through the years, but one of the most heartwarming...