| | Associated Press
PARIS -- For Chilean Marcelo Rios, winning is everything.
And if that's not possible, the game is not worth playing.
The former world No. 1, who underwent groin surgery in November,
retired from his first-round match Wednesday against Germany's
Tommy Haas after losing the first two sets 6-3, 6-2.
"I'm not here to play a couple of matches or win a set or try
to win one match," Rios said. "I think I'm here to win the
tournament. If I know I'm not going to feel good the rest of the
week, it makes no sense to play."
The 24-year-old said his legs were hurting, although not as
badly as before surgery. "I'm a little depressed because I'm not playing good. When I'm
playing good, I enjoy playing tennis," he said.
His decision to quit did not sit well with the 22-year-old Haas.
"If you make the decision to go on and play, I think you should
finish," Haas said. "I don't think it's good at all, but we all
know how Marcelo Rios is, and I don't think he cares what people
think."
Ivanisevic down on himself
Veteran Goran Ivanisevic was
characteristically downcast after losing a first-round match to
Spain's Albert Costa 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 Wednesday.
"I didn't expect it to be my day. I didn't expect anything
better than this," said the 28-year-old left-hander from Croatia. "You practice hard for one week, and then to play like this,"
he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Ivanisevic, once ranked No. 2 in the world, said he is not
considering quitting tennis, even though he feels his future
doesn't look bright.
"When you win one or two matches every two or three months, how
can you be confident?" he asked.
Agassi seeks longer Parisian fling
As Andre Agassi seeks his second
straight French Open title, he might think of Sergi Bruguera -- the
last man to capture the clay court tournament in successive years:
1993-94.
The feat is no guarantee of continued success on the slow red
clay at Roland Garros. This year, the injury-plagued Spaniard
returned briefly to Paris on a wild card. He was beaten by countryman Juan Balcells 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 1-6,
6-0 in his first-round match Wednesday.
An operation on his right shoulder in February 1999 put
Bruguera, 29, out of action for a year.
"I started playing again in January this year. It's very
difficult to come back, but I'm trying very hard," he said. "I
thought it would be easier, but you lose a lot of habits, a lot of
things that were automatic, that I didn't even think about
before."
As usual, Kournikova's attire draws attention
It's not easy being Anna Kournikova. It's
not tough, either. It's just the way it is.
The Russian player moved into the second round of the French
Open on Wednesday, beating Canadian Vanessa Webb 6-4, 6-4.
As soon as the blonde darling of tennis walked onto the court,
the cheering started. When she took off her jacket to reveal a
white-and-blue top with slits between the neck and shoulder, the
wolf whistles and cheers reached a crescendo.
Asked if the attention made it difficult to concentrate, she
said: "It comes with the job. I can't change it. I'm just here to play. When I'm playing, I'm concentrating on
every point."
Not everybody is focussing on her game, though. One reporter
asked her if the reaction to her dress this year was the same as
last year. She replied, smiling: "Every time I get the same reaction."
Dream doubles team in making?
Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras teaming up for
Davis Cup doubles?
Agassi is considering just such a pairing for the semifinals in
July when the United States travels to Spain.
"Certainly I'll make myself available to help the team any way
I can," Agassi said. "If the conclusion is that I'm one of two
guys that would be best for the situation, then I would do it."
But Agassi sees some problems in a pairing with Sampras, who was
knocked out of the French Open on Monday in his first-round match
against Australian Mark Philippoussis.
"While I would love to go out there and play with Pete, you
also want, to be quite honest, to give ourselves the best shot,"
Agassi said. "A quality doubles team plays a lot together. Pete
and I don't."
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