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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Thursday, July 26 |
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| Agassi survives second-round scare Associated Press | |||
LOS ANGELES -- Andre Agassi relied on his returns to mute
big-serving Greg Rusedski in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory Thursday night
in the second round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.
Rusedski served 11 aces in the two-hour match on the UCLA
campus, but often had trouble with his first serve. Agassi took
advantage and won 59 percent of the points on Rusedski's second
serve.
"Giving Andre that many second serves, he's going to take
advantage because his return of serve is the best part of his
game," said Rusedski, who had beaten Agassi in their two previous
meetings.
"It might have been different if I'd taken the first set," the
Brit said. "The overrules were really bad. The referee jumped in
the first set when he shouldn't have. He made some big mistakes."
Agassi, the third seed, advanced to Friday's quarterfinals
against fifth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over
fellow American Paul Goldstein.
Agassi gained the only break of the third set at 5-4. They went
to deuce four times before Rusedski netted two consecutive backhand
volleys. Agassi served a 40-love game, including a 119-mph ace, to
close out the match in front of 7,056 fans.
"I wish I could say there was anything but a little luck at the
right time," Agassi said. "In the third we both had chances. If
you get enough break points, one of them is going to go your way."
Top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten extended his winning streak to 14
matches, beating qualifier Robby Ginepri 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Kuerten, the Brazilian star ranked No. 1 in the world, advanced
to the quarterfinals against Germany's Tommy Haas, a 6-2, 6-3
winner over Bob Bryan of Camarillo.
"The afternoon is when you normally get sleepy. Today I was
more lazy on the court. Things were tougher than the day before,"
said Kuerten, still adjusting to the time difference after arriving
from last week's clay-court tournament victory in Germany.
Ginepri, an 18-year-old from Atlanta playing his third ATP Tour
event since turning pro, led 2-0 and 3-2 in the tiebreak before
Kuerten won five of the final six points.
"I wasn't sure I'd be able to hang with the top guys. Today is
another reminder I can do it," said Ginepri, who beat Sebastien
Lareau in the first round for his first ATP victory. "It made me
realize I'm not so far off as I thought two months ago."
Ginepri led 2-1 in the second set and wasted a break point that
would have put him up 3-1. Kuerten put away an
overhead for a 2-2 tie and won the final five games of the match.
"In the second set I played more relaxed and aggressive and hit
the ball harder and deeper," said Kuerten, making his first visit
to Los Angeles.
In other second-round matches, Belgian Xavier Malisse surprised
No. 2 seed Marat Safin of Russia 7-5, 6-3, and Taylor Dent of
Newport Beach got by Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-5. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
ALSO SEE Thursday's results Sampras fends off Chang in Mercedez-Benz Cup Agassi ready to balance family, tennis | |
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