Wednesday, August 09, 2000
No. 1 Agassi gets back on track
Beats Ferreira for 1st win since Wimbledon quarters
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Andre Agassi
(Jeff Swinger photos)
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MASON — Andre Agassi was worried about his back. Wayne Ferreira was worried about Andre Agassi. Both had their reasons.
The top-seeded Agassi, who was in a car accident four weeks ago, won his first match in more than a month, 7-6 (4), 6-1 Tuesday in the first round of the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati. It lasted one hour, 15 minutes. Ferreira is now 0-8 and has lost 18 of 19 sets against Agassi.
“It's sort of a laughable situation,” Ferreira said. “I seem to do the same thing every time I play him. All I can do is keep laughing. I would like to play well once just to see if I would have a chance.”
What Agassi needs more than anything right now are matches. Since his loss to Patrick Rafter in the Wimbledon semifinals, he has played only twice: Tuesday night and a first-round loss to Jerome Golmard last week in Toronto.
Steffi Graf watches her boyfriend.
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Agassi has struggled with back problems often this year. He withdrew from the Sybase Open in San Jose in February because of a lower-back strain. Then came a nasty fall at Queen's Club in London — a Wimbledon warmup — that forced him to retire during the second set of his third-round match.
Last month, Agassi, 30, was rear-ended in an automobile accident, causing muscle spasms. He ended up missing the U.S. Davis Cup against Spain and the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles. There was no structural damage to Agassi's back, just strained and pulled muscles.
Still, he could not play tennis for two weeks. He was able to do some lower-body and cardiovascular training, but that was it. The twisting and turning of tennis matches was another story.
“Every week is feeling better, so that's a good sign,” said Agassi, who today plays Fernando Vicente in the second round. “Right now, just getting through a match without any physical difficulties has been an accomplishment, and winning a match certainly felt good. You can't have too high expectations, but you're trying to get ready and get your game at its best before the (U.S.) Open comes up.”
Since winning the tourna ment here in 1995 and '96, Agassi has had mixed re sults.
Unseeded in '97, he lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the first round. In '98, he was the 10th seed and was upset by Vince Spadea in the second round. But last year he rolled into the semifinals without dropping a set before losing to Pete Sampras.
Agassi is 22-7 and third among active victory leaders in Cincinnati. He is two victories away from tying his coach, Brad Gilbert, who was 24-7 here from 1987-94.
But more than usual, this is a one-match-at-a-time tournament for Agassi.
After he fought off Ferreira in the first-set tiebreaker Tuesday night, the match was no contest.
“I just kind of went with the momentum,” Agassi said. “Sometimes it doesn't take much.”
“He plays so fast,” said Ferreira, who advanced to the semifinals last week in Toronto and is No.16 in the ATP Champions Race. “Before you can even think about what just happened, you're down a break already. ... I just played awful. I think the tennis was pretty ordinary.”
Agassi wasn't much more excited about his play.
“I really didn't feel that great about it,” he said. “I guess aside from my physical concerns, I stayed focused on the job, and I stretched out that second set. That's a good sign.
“I like my game. I've been practicing well and hitting the ball well, but that's always different than playing a match. ... More than the back, you get tentative on your shots because you haven't played a whole lot, and that makes a difference.”
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