Agassi Done in by Lopez, Weather in Hamburg; Safin Cruises

Amid the miserable conditions, Agassi on Tuesday succumbed to Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the first round at Hamburg. Agassi led 5-3 in the second but served a double fault to get broken when serving for the set at 5-4. “F-Lo” kept the momentum going to win the tie-break.

“It was tough conditions out there,” said Agassi of the sub-50 degree temps and intermittent hail. “It’s hard to penetrate and the ball wasn’t going very far. It’s too hard for me to move under these conditions. So, I wasn’t penetrating and I wasn’t reacting very well. It was difficult.”

For Agassi it was only his fifth time playing in Hamburg, and by the sounds of it, his last.

“Every week I feel like I’m not sure for the next year,” Agassi said. “I’ll discuss it (returning next year) with the family. My body doesn’t respond well in these temperatures. It’s not the same, the movements, the work that goes into the shot. Everything is much more difficult. So, in one sense it’s great preparation because it’s so difficult but in another sense it’s discouraging because it’s not easy. I’ll see next year.”

Also in action on Tuesday, Marat Safin posted an unusual win thumping Alberto Martin 6-1, 6-0. Safin, who has yet to reach a tour quarterfinal since his Australian Open title, says he’s in good shape. For what, we don’t know nor wish to speculate.

“I’ve been working hard,” said the third-seeded Safin. “The week after Barcelona, I had 1 ½ weeks. I was working a lot for my fitness, but then my knee started to hurt a little bit. In Rome, I had to withdraw from the doubles. So, I was coming here without any expectations. But I’m in pretty good shape. I’m moving pretty well which is very important. I felt comfortable on this court which his strange because it’s slow and a lot of bad bounces.”

The only shocker of the day came as No. 9 seed David Nalbandian was sent packing by Robin Soderling.

Other seeded winners included (10) Guillermo “El Fragile” Coria (d. Spadea), (4) Gaston Gaudio (d. Sanchez), (12) Guillermo Canas (d. Santoro) and (15) Nikolay Davydeno (d. Llodra).

German favorites Tommy Haas and Rainer “Shine” Schuettler each bit the dust.

In action on Wednesday will be (1) Roger Federer (v. Berdych), (3) Safin (v. Ferrero), (10) Coria (v. Youhzny), (14) Tommy Robredo (v. Kuerten) and the not-to-be-missed Tim Henman vs. Greg Rusedski clash.