For the second week in a row Andre Agassi walked off the court a first round loser after he was beaten by 56th-ranked Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the Cincinnati Masters on Monday. It was a tough defeat for Agassi, who won the Los Angeles title over Pete Sampras two weeks ago but lost to qualifier Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the first round of Montreal last week.
He was, however, more than willing to give Gaudio the credit he deserved. The American admitted: "He stepped it up and kept me out of my rhythm. I build a lot of my game around controlling the ball and the balls were not going where I was hitting them. He served well, especially serving big at crucial times."
From the outset of the match, it was clear that Gaudio was in no way intimidated by Agassi and bombarded the crowd favourite with sizzling passing shots off of either flank. Agassi compounded the situation by becoming frustrated and made too many unforced errors. A service break in the fifth game was enough to ensure that Gaudio took the first set. In the second set, Agassi raced to a 4-1 lead, but Gaudio won the next three games to even up the score at 4-4 with both players holding thereafter. The tiebreaker was always in Gaudio's control from when Agassi sent a backhand chip shot wide on serve to fall behind 3-1.
Earlier in the day, Goran Ivanisevic struggled in the intense summer heat to beat Spaniard Francisco Clavet 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in his first match since becoming Wimbledon champion. By the end of the match he was vomiting on the court and had to have cool wet towels applied to his head by ATP tour trainer Doug Spreen. Officials said the big Croat suffered from heat exhaustion and an upset stomach. After being iced down on the training table he left the tournament grounds.
In another game, world number one Gustavo Kuerten got his revenge over American teenager Andy Roddick, who upset the Brazilian in three sets last week in Montreal. Kuerten took a tough first set then cruised to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 victory over Roddick, who sustained a left ankle sprain while executing a winning backhand volley approach shot at 15-15 in the fifth game of the first set.
It was a good day for the British contingent as both seventh-seeded Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski secured second round berths. Henman scored a quick 6-4 6-2 victory over Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic. Rusedski won a 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 over David Prinosil of Germany. (Reuters)
Filed by Shane Murray
