| | Associated Press
PARIS -- A blister burst and so did Andre Agassi's Grand
Slam dream.
For most of two sets at the French Open, Agassi did everything
right. He toyed with Karol Kucera, teasing him with looping
floaters, punishing him with hard, flat groundstrokes, keeping him
back with deep serves, while taking a 6-2, 5-3 lead as bright
sunshine baked the court late Thursday afternoon.
|  | | Andre Agassi gamely acknowledges the crowd while walking off the court after his stunning defeat. |
Then, suddenly, a whopping blister the size of a half-dollar
ripped open on the big toe of Agassi's right foot. He couldn't run
without pain, couldn't serve without stubbing the toe achingly into
the dry, brick-hard red clay when he landed. Even standing still,
he whacked balls wildly, trying to win rallies with one shot
instead of six.
Nothing worked and Kucera won 16 of the next 17 games to send
Agassi, the top-seeded, defending champion, out in the second
round, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 as the stunned crowd watched nearly in
silence.
"The first two sets, he's got the match in his hands," said
Kucera, who had won just three matches in seven years at the French
before this tournament. "I was lucky to get back, actually, in the
second set."
Agassi, a desperate, forlorn expression on his face, signed a
few autographs, then fled Roland Garros without a word. He sat in
silence in the limousine to his hotel, accompanied by girlfriend
Steffi Graf, coach Brad Gilbert and trainer Gil Reyes.
"No one said anything," Reyes said at the hotel shortly after
they arrived. "We want to give him some space right now. He's
feeling an enormous amount of disappointment. It's very
unfortunate, something completely unforeseen. He trained for this
tournament as hard as he ever has for any tournament. It meant a
lot to him and he really wanted to win. This was a continuation of
a dream come true last year."
The French Open was where Agassi began the greatest run of his
life, personally and professionally, a year ago. He completed a
career Grand Slam, kindled a romance with Graf, went on to runnerup
finish at Wimbledon, a second U.S. Open title, and a second
Australian Open in January.
He came back to Paris hoping to keep that run going, to win this
tournament again and try to become the first man to win all four
Grand Slam titles in one year since Rod Laver in 1969. No one since
Laver had reached even four straight major finals until Agassi, and
now that streak is over.
"He's not taking it well, he's very upset," Gilbert said. "We
put our heart and soul into all of this. You just get bad luck
sometimes. He couldn't move. At 5-4 (in the first set) he called
for a trainer the first time. By the time the trainer taped it up
at 4-1 in the second it had already ripped open."
Agassi shed tears in victory here a year ago, but not in defeat
this time.
"There's no crying in baseball, and there's no crying in
tennis," Gilbert said.
Efforts to reach Agassi at the hotel were unsuccessful.
Agassi could be fined up to $10,000 for skipping a news
conference after the match, but that amount is like petty cash to a
player who has won $20 million in his career.
With Pete Sampras and Lindsay Davenport out in the first round,
Agassi represented the best shot for an American to win here again.
Now after just two rounds only Michael Chang remains of the nine
American men who came to Paris, while Monica Seles and Venus
Williams are still alive in the women's draw.
Chang might not be around much longer, since he plays No. 5
Gustavo Kuerten on Friday.
The upset of Agassi left No. 3 Magnus Norman as the highest
seeded man remaining. Moments after Agassi lost, Norman completed a
6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Fabrice Santoro.
"I'm playing the best tennis of my life," Norman said.
In other men's matches, No. 6 Cedric Pioline downed Patrick
Rafter, the two-time U.S. Open champion who is coming back from
shoulder surgery, 7-6 (5) 6-3, 6-4; No. 7 Thomas Enqvist beat
Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-2, 6-0; No. 14 Dominik Hrbaty was upset by
Argentina's Agustin Calleri 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; and unseeded
Andrei Medvedev, runnerup to Agassi a year ago, swept Marc Rosset
6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 12 Marat Safin outlasted Andrew Ilie, who trailed 5-0 in the
fifth set when he retired because of cramping.
"It's my pride," Ilie said. "If I didn't have a chance, I
didn't want to give him a 6-love in the fifth." | |
ALSO SEE
Agassi fined $10,000 for skipping news conference
Top-seeded Hingis struggles but tames temper, qualifier
Notebook: Koubek DQ'd after racket hits ballboy
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rachel Alexander of the Washington Post comments on Andre Agassi's blisters and clay-court game.
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