The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Agassi advances

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Agassi advances

MASON (OHIO), AUG. 3. Andre Agassi won his opening match on Monday at the $2.5 million Cincinnati Masters when Mardy Fish quit during the third set because of a sore back.

Agassi, 34, isn't sure whether this will be his final year on the tour and is hoping to be back in form in time for the U.S. Open. Agassi has recovered from a sore hip that bothered him this summer and forced him to skip Wimbledon.

His goal as the No. 11 seed in Cincinnati is to build confidence heading into the U.S. Open.

``I need all these matches now to do that,'' Agassi said. ``I've got to string a few together now. So it would be really nice to see my game elevate as the tournament progresses.''

Agassi lost the first set 4-6, then pulled out a second-set tiebreaker 7-3 when Fish double-faulted. He led 4-1 in the third set when Fish retired because of a sore back, which also forced him to withdraw from last week's tournament in Toronto.

In a first-round upset, Tommy Haas continued his comeback from shoulder surgery by beating his fellow German, eighth-seeded Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Easy for Pierce

Mary Pierce of France cruised past Marlene Weingartner of Germany 6-1, 6-1 in 43 minutes in the first round of the WTA Rogers Cup on Monday.

Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, the 13th seed, and Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia, the 16th, also advanced.

Nagyova moves up

Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia needed eight match points before edging seventh-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8) at the WTA Nordic Light Open on Monday. Nagyova also saved a match point in the first-round thriller.

The results: ATP Cincinnati Masters (first round): Gaston Gaudio bt Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-2; Sjeng Schalken bt Dick Norman 6-4, 6-3; Wayne Arthurs bt Andrei Pavel 7-6 (5), 6-3; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Rafael Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3); Tommy Haas bt Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Sargis Sargsian bt Michel Kratochvil 2-6, 6-2, 7-5; Ivo Karlovic bt Wesley Moodie 6-7 (2), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (9); Carlos Moya bt Arvind Parmar 3-6, 7-5, 6-2; Andre Agassi bt Mardy Fish 4-6, 7-6 (3), 4-1, retd; Marat Safin bt Jiri Novak 6-3, 6-0; Greg Rusedski bt Thomas Enqvist 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic bt Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5); Lleyton Hewitt bt Alex Bogomolov, Jr. 6-2, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4.

Gustavo Kuerten bt Lu Yen-hsun 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Paradorn Srichaphan bt David Ferrer 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

WTA Rogers Cup (first round): Tatiana Golovin bt Anca Barna 6-2, 6-1; Mary Pierce bt Marlene Weingartner 6-1, 6-1; Nicole Pratt bt Shenay Perry 6-4, 6-4; Shinobu Asagoe bt Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-2; Fabiola Zuluaga bt Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-1, 6-4; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Marta Marrero 6-3, 6-3; Alina Jidkova bt Teryn Ashley 6-1, 6-2; Magdalena Maleeva bt Lina Krasnoroutskaya 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4; Daniela Hantuchova bt Emilie Loit 3-5, retd; Karolina Sprem bt Maureen Drake 6-2, 6-1.

WTA Nordic Light Open (first round): Henrieta Nagyova bt Flavia Pennetta 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8); Severine Beltrame bt Klara Koukalova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2); Katarina Srebotnik bt Julia Vakulenko 6-3, 3-0, retd. — AP

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