INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Pete Sampras ended a
streak of three straight defeats by beating German David
Prinosil Monday, while Australian Open champion Andre Agassi
gained a measure of revenge at the Indian Wells Masters
Series.
|  | | Last year, Andre Agassi was knocked out at Indian Wells by Hicham Arazi from Morocco. On Monday, Agassi beat him 6-3, 6-2. |
Sampras, who had not lost three matches in a row since
1997, said it was good to be back on the victory trail
following his 6-4, 6-4 first-round win.
"I felt like I've been struggling a little bit over the
past couple of weeks," said the third-seeded Sampras, who won
here in 1994 and 1995. "Today, I felt like I got my game going.
It was a pretty solid effort. I hit the ball pretty well.
"I feel like I've got some room to improve a little bit.
Hopefully, as the week goes on, I'll get some confidence and
get some more matches under my belt."
Arriving at this tournament in the Coachella Valley,
Sampras had lost to compatriot Todd Martin in the fourth round
of the Australian Open, followed by opening-round defeats to
fellow American Chris Woodruff in Memphis and to Andrew Ilie of
Australia in Scottsdale.
One service break in each of the two sets of the 71-minute
match was all Sampras, who delivered 17 aces, needed to brush
Prinosil aside.
The fourth-seeded Agassi was a quick 6-3, 6-2 first-round
winner over Hicham Arazi, a result that served as payback for
the Moroccan's first-round defeat of Agassi here last year.
Agassi also found some satisfaction in finally getting the
best of a lefthander after losing his last two matches to
Briton Greg Rusedski in the San Jose final and to Spaniard
Francisco Clavet in the first round at Scottsdale last week.
"(Playing lefthanders) requires adjustments, but normally
it's a good thing for my game because everything plays toward
my backhand," Agassi said. "I'm fine hitting my backhand in
both directions.
"Three in a row – I've got to get back to a righty."
Agassi has not enjoyed great success at Indian Wells and is
not sure why.
"I think this is a week that I've always expected myself to
play well," said Agassi, who reached the final here twice in 12
tournaments. "I grew up on hard courts, grew up in the (Las
Vegas) desert, which has a little bit of altitude. You know,
this seems like it's a place I should be pretty familiar with.
"But I have to go out there and prove that."
The only men's seed to be upset on the opening day was
12th-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who finally
surrendered to Chilean Nicolas Massu, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6
(8-6), in a three-hour, 30-minute marathon match.
Defending champion Alex Corretja of Spain struggled to a
3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) first-round victory over Gaston
Gaudio, one of several talented, young Argentine players
performing well on the ATP Tour.
Australian Open runner-up Arnaud Clement of France also
progressed with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Ilie.
Roger Federer suffered a rare first-round elimination,
losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, to Nicolas Kiefer of Germany.
Federer has had a great start to 2001, most notably by
winning three matches to lead the Swiss Davis Cup team to a
first-round victory over the United States last month.
He also picked up his first career title at Milan in
February and reached the final in Rotterdam.
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Monday's results
Indian Wells seeds
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