MELBOURNE, Australia -- American Andre Agassi opened the
defense of his Australian Open title with a 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jiri Vanek on Monday and then turned his back on the United
States' Davis Cup squad.
|  | | Andre Agassi had an easy day, winning the first set in 19 minutes and then beating Jiri Vanek 6-0, 7-5, 6-3. |
Agassi will miss the Americans' match against Switzerland
next month and said he was unlikely to return in the
foreseeable future.
He cited displeasure with the format of the competition and
said he had informed new U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe
of his decision.
The U.S. team is scheduled to take on Switzerland in the
first round of the Cup in Basle next month.
Agassi's absence would prove another blow for McEnroe and
the Americans, with Pete Sampras also unlikely to be a starter.
Sampras has long made it clear he is unhappy at the current
year-long format of the competition and has called for it to be
staged in a concentrated timeslot or every second year.
Agassi on Monday again expressed his own concerns.
"Every year I hear if I just commit and we win, it gives us
a better position to change the format of the demands of Davis
Cup, and, you know, me participating isn't going to have any
influence on that anymore," Agassi said.
Agassi also said he did not "have it in me anymore... I
just don't."
"It's not really even this year. It's until there's a
format that works for everybody... I believe there are
solutions to it, but a lot of people need to get together to
make it happen and I'm just a little skeptical if that's going
to happen.
"I believe it (the format) is already committed to 2003. I
certainly don't like the chances of me being a part of it for
those three years, and if they still want me past three years
from now... that's either going to speak greatly for how good I
still am or how tough a situation America's tennis is in."
Although widely expected to be unavailable, Agassi said he
had spoken to McEnroe a few weeks ago, but had kept quiet while
the new captain settled into the position.
"I have talked to Patrick, which is why I'm so open about
it now," he told reporters. "I've felt this way for a while."
Watched by girlfriend and former women's top-ranked player Steffi Graf, the American launched his latest Australian Open
campaign with a powerful display.
The sixth seed this year, Agassi raced through the first
set in just 18 minutes, allowing Vanek only eleven points on
the newly-constructed Show Court 1.
Though he had his serve broken in a tighter second set,
Agassi never really looked under pressure and announced himself
satisfied with his opening appearance.
"For the first match I couldn't have really done it better
today," Agassi said. "If that continues, I have a good feeling
for how quickly I'll get into my best form."
Agassi, who is scheduled to meet Sampras in the
quarterfinals here, won his sixth grand slam title at the Open last year, his fourth consecutive grand slam final, but then
struggled to approach his best, hampered by a nagging back
injury.
He beat Russian Yevgeny Kafelinkov in the Kooyong Classic
exhibition event last week and has arrived with his confidence
growing.
"I do believe I can step it up and beat the best players
and that's always a feeling you need when you come into a grand
slam," he said.
|
|
ALSO SEE
Sampras, Davenport, Safin survive Aussie openers
Crowd enjoys Davenport beating ex-Aussie Dokic
Australian Open results
Hewitt signs with Nike for a reported $15 million
Courts at Melbourne Park already under scrutiny
|
