Agassi Advances in Quest for Record Sixth Title at ATP Washington

Top-seeded Andre "The Boss" Agassi, seeking a record sixth title this week at the ATP Stop in Washington, punched the clock versus fellow American Paul Goldstein with a 6-4, 6-2 win to advance to the second round.

"I feel really good, coming in with a lot of confidence. I can't be feeling any better," said the shiny-pated former No. 1. "It was a nice evening for me, Goldie played good game to break me and that got my attention early."

Other seeds in action Tuesday were (6)Al Martin (d. Ferreira in a third-set breaker), (7)Cyril Saulnier (d. French countryman Dupuis), and (5)James Blake losing to (SE)Adrian Garcia.

Un-seeds into the second round were American Jan-Mike Gambill with a rare win (d. Koubek), Kristian Pless (d. (WC)Baker 7-6 in the third), Swiss Michel Kratochvil (d. Salzenstein), Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Yoo), Belgian Gilles Elseneer (d. Wang in three), and former MS-Canadian winner Harel Levy (d. Zimonjic in three).

On the hardcourts Wednesday on an attention-challenging schedule are (7)Saulnier vs. Elseneer (SportsCenter alert), (Q)Levy vs. (4)Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, Falla vs. (2)Hewitt, and (6)A.Martin vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter.