INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – After a tough first-set
workout, Andre Agassi moved into the third round of the Tennis
Masters Series-Indian Wells tournament with a 7-6, 6-3 victory
over Tommy Haas of Germany on Wednesday.
|  | | Andre Agassi put away Tommy Hass 7-6, 6-3, showing more spirit than he did in his first-round elimination last week at San Jose.
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"I thought it was a real good match, highly competitive,
excluding just maybe slight indecision on a couple of crucial
points," said Agassi, who advanced to a meeting with another
German, Nicolas Kiefer, a 6-4, 6-1 conqueror of 19-year-old
American Mardy Fish.
"I felt like it was high quality, highly competitive," added
Agassi, who was pleased with his play, especially coming off of
a first-round ouster last week in San Jose.
"I feel real good with the way my game got better as the
match went on," added the fourth seed.
In another night match, American Jan-Michael Gambill, who
picked up his second career title last week at Delray Beach,
dismissed Spaniard Fernando Vicente 6-2, 6-3.
Preceding Agassi into the third round early Wednesday were
top-seed Gustavo Kuerten and third-seed Pete Sampras, who were
both extended to three sets.
Kuerten squandered three match points at 5-4, 40-0 in the
second set, before prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 over American
teen Taylor Dent.
"(It was) a great match until 5-1 in the second," Kuerten
said. "I was playing my best tennis. I just lost my focus for a
while."
The exciting Brazilian admitted to being guilty of counting
his chickens before they hatched.
"When I saw I had already 5-4, serving for the match, a few
match points, I thought I had the match won already," explained
the French Open champion. "I didn't show my aggression enough to
win the match."
Sampras paid the price for a second-set letdown in his match
against Fabrice Santoro of France. But the 13-time Grand Slam
winner took it out on his opponent as he swept the third set to
complete a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory.
"I won the first set, was really kind of dictating what I
wanted to do," Sampras said. "In the second, I got a little bit
careless."
Also moving into the third round was three-time Wimbledon
runner-up Goran Ivanisevic.
The good news for the charismatic Croatian is that he seems
to be coming out of a year-long slump as he demonstrated with his
7-6 (7-1), 6-3 upset of ninth-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist.
The bad news is that Ivanisevic is in need of shoulder
surgery, but cannot decide when to take the time off to have the
operation now that his game is coming together.
He also is trying to come to grips with how much longer he
will continue his career.
"I don't think about the future – maybe this is the last
year for me, maybe not," Ivanisevic said, showing his trademark
impish grin. "I'm going to see at the end of the year how things
are going.
"So far is great. So far I have fun," added Ivanisevic.
"If I want to finish the tennis this year, then at least I
want to try everything, try to have fun, try to be happy. Then at
least I can say I finished my career happy."
Agassi was able to convert all three break points Haas
presented him with, breaking the German's serve in the fifth and
seventh games of the first set and the second game of the second
set.
Haas jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker,
but Agassi stormed back to win six of the next seven points.
"At that point you're just trying to continue executing and
make him play a good breaker to beat you," Agassi said. "For me
at that stage, I was a bit frustrated because I felt I had a
couple opportunities to close that set out."
Agassi said even if he lost the first set, he was determined
to make things tough on Haas.
"Once I was down in the breaker, I didn't want to just leave
it in his hands. I wanted to execute my shots and at least feel
good with the fact that if I go into the second set a set down,
I'm starting to let my game fly a little bit more." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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