Agassi Wins, Shrugs Off Retirement at ATP San Jose

Posted on February 12, 2004

Andre Agassi won in his opener at the ATP stop in San Jose, but not without some effort. The former No. 1 beat Georgia's (the country, stupid, not the state) Irakli Labadze, who he had lost to in 2001 at Shanghai, with a grinding 7-6(4), 6-4 effort featuring one service break.

"I'm going on 34, and I feel if I do things right I'll keep myself in position to win," said Agassi, indicating he will play beyond the 2004 season. "I would tend to believe there are a few years left."

Labadze, who earned the nickname "Freak Show" for his vast array of shots and unpredictability, kept Agassi off balance with a big lefty serve, and an variety of backhand slice and topspin.

"That was an awkward match," Agassi said. "I felt like I was playing better than him in most departments except I couldn't quite get over that hump of breaking his serve." Agassi will face Weslie Moodie on Thursday.

Three other seeds, all Americans, advanced on the day in (3)Mardy Fish (d. Reichel), (5)Robby Ginepri (d. Mamiit), and (6)Vince Spadea, who stopped Tommy Haas in straight sets in the German's comeback bid. It was the first match for Haas since the 2002 TMS-Paris. Three un-seeds also moved on in France's Cyril Saulnier (d. Vahaly), Denmark's Ken Carlsen (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer), and Norwegian Kristof Vliegen (d. Popp).

On today's docket in San Jose is Malisse vs. H.-T. Lee, Kiefer vs. Joachim "Lleyton's Sister's Boyfriend" Johansson, Gambill vs. Hippensteel, Dent vs. Kendrick, Fish vs. Carlsen, Roddick vs. C.Rochus, and Blake vs. Fleishman.

Former Wimbledon champ Goran Ivanisevic followed his doubles win yesterday with a singles win in his 2004 debut at Milan, edging Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6 in the third set.

"I served very well and I won my service points pretty easily," said Ivanisevic, who threw in 25 aces. "I was not stiff or nervous and after, everything went very nicely. In the second set, I lost my serve but he hit three great passing shots, I didn't do anything wrong...I don't have any goals. My only goal right now is to have fun and see if I can win any more matches." Ivanisevic played his last singles match at Queen's during the grasscourt season last year before opting for shoulder surgery.

Both seeds in action advanced Tuesday in (3)Tommy Robredo (d. (WC)Corretja in an all-Spanish), and (7)Sargis Sargsian (d. (Q)Seppi). Un-seeds moving on were former Aussie Open winner Thomas Johansson (d. Davydenko), Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. Santoro), France's Gregory Carraz (d. (Q)Santopadre in three), and (Q)Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger (d. A.Martin).

Wednesday's action includes Dupuis vs. (4)Lopez, (5)Ljubicic vs. Beck (first meeting), "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. (6)Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal (first meeting), (LL)Bracciali vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Sanguinetti vs. (2)Martin "Berkerker" Verkerk (battle of last two Milan winners), Youzhny vs. (WC)Galimberti, Stepanek vs. Kucera, (8)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Andreev, and (Q)Bohli vs. Escude.

No. 6 seed Juan Ignacio "Just Say No" Chela was ousted on the dirt in Vina del Mar Tuesday by Spanish backboard David Sanchez in the only upset on the day. "I felt very good and confident on the court," Sanchez said. "It was good to get a Tuesday start. I am happy with my level of tennis, and my goal here is to try to defend my title." Three seeds moved into the second round in Chileans (1)Nicolas Massu (d. Verdasco) and (5)Fernando Gonzalez (d. Montanes), and (7)Filippo Volandri of Italy (d. Portas). Un-seeds into the second round were the third Chilean winner on the day in wildcard Adrian Garcia (d. countryman (Q)Capdeville), two Peruvians in Ivan Miranda (d. Vassallo Arguello) and Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (WC)Hormazabal), Spain's "Julio &" Gallo Blanco (d. (Q)Marin), former Israel TMS-Canada winner Harel Levy (d. (Q)Cermak), Argentine qualifier Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari (d. O.Hernandez), and Brazil's Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta (d. (WC)Gamonal).

On tap today in Vina del Mar in second-round action are Acasuso vs. (4)Gaudio in an all-Argentine, Sanchez vs. Miranda, (Q)Squillari vs. (2)Kuerten in a veteran battle (series tied 1-1), and (7)Volandri vs. Blanco.

WTA REVIEW
16-year-old French-child Tatiana Golovin resumed where she left off at the Australian Open, in her first round match at the Paris-indoor ousting No. 6 seed Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, who retired trailing in the third set with muscle cramps. Golovin saved two match points in the second set. No. 8 Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna, the only other seed in action, eeked out a three-set win over Petra Mandula. Qualifiers had their day, with two into the second round in Russia's Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. (Q)Jankovic), and Croat Karolina Sprem (d. Vento-Kabchi). French wildcard Stephanie Cohen-Aloro also moved into the second round with a three-set win over lucky loser Claudine Schaul.

On court Wednesday are Bovina vs. Medina Garrigues, Pisnik vs. Farina Elia, Cohen-Aloro vs. Dementieva, Pierce vs. Parra (who replaced Dechy, who withdrew with injury), and Sandrine "Test Tube" Testud vs. Daniela "The Waking Stick" Hantuchova.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Jan-Michael "The Male Anna K." Gambill, in his win over Wayne Ferreira at San Jose, sees concentrating and forgetting the score as the same thing: "The thing that I did really extremely well today, and seeing that I haven't done it very well throughout my entire career, was that my mindset was one point at a time. Honestly, I didn't even know the score part of the time I was out there just playing the one point. I mean I had a vague idea of what was happening in the games, but it really didn't matter -? you should want to go out there and win every single point. Whether I'm up 4-0 for down to match point, or it?s a tie-breaker at 12 all. And then if you lose it, you lose it, and you go to the next one. And that?s what I did really well today and I'm proud of that."...Greg Rusedski can compete in ATP events while the anti-doping tribunal makes their decision, which is expected to take about two weeks...Anna Kournikova is in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit spread, which hits news stands today...Kim Clijsters says she and Lleyton Hewitt have still not set a wedding date: "To fix a date is not easy with our tight schedules. And we must make up our minds on the place. We visited various locations in Belgium and Australia, but whether it's one or the other country, it will be a problem because our grandparents are old and cannot face a 24-hour journey. Because of all this, the wedding will probably not take place this year."