U.S. OPEN NOTES : Corretja Almost Adds Agassi to List

NEW YORK —  Top-seeded Andre Agassi came terribly close to an ugly upset Thursday night, but he rallied from being down two sets to one and defeated Spain’s Alex Corretja, 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, in the second round of the U.S. Open.

Corretja was an improbable source for an upset. The clay-court specialist’s best moment of the year came in July when he broke Thomas Muster’s 40-match clay win streak. The 21-year-old Spaniard brought an 0-6 hard-court record into the match. Ranked No. 28, he has won only one tournament in his career.

Agassi paid little heed to Corretja’s record, only his heavy topspin. It is the sort of stroke that gives Agassi fits, since he must think through points and not simply react. Added to that was Corretja’s ability to run down nearly every ball.

“I knew early on in the match I was in for a long evening,” Agassi said. “It was one of those things that I knew I had to get through by sheer determination.”

It was a long evening, made so by Agassi’s 67 unforced errors. Agassi double-faulted to lose the first set and looked only slightly better winning the second.

Agassi had two break points while Corretja was serving for the third set, but unforced errors eliminated that opportunity.

The packed crowd was subdued and looked as stunned as Agassi, who sat staring blankly during changeovers.

Only in the fourth set did Agassi take command. He began to return better and his serving went from tepid to lukewarm. He set up set point with a spectacular behind-the-back winner down the line.

The shot seemed to awaken the crowd.

“This is the U.S. Open, the place was packed,” Agassi said. “By the fifth set, everyone has two or three beers in them. The place was rockin’.”

Agassi dodged this bullet, but he now must face two-time U.S. Open winner Stefan Edberg in the next round.

Notes

Former French Open champion Sergi Bruguera apparently failed to learn whatever John McEnroe wanted to teach him in their sessions last week. Daniel Vacek defeated the 11th-seeded Bruguera in the second round, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Afterward, Bruguera was peppered with questions about his association with the volatile McEnroe, who is now a television commentator. Bruguera said his attitude toward tennis changed for the better. “I was more . . . more happiness to go to the court because he was there,” he said. “Before, I was going, ‘Oh, I don’t want to practice.’ With him, I had a great week this week. I think I learned a lot and I was happy about going on court and play.” Bruguera was asked, if McEnroe was such a good coach, why did he lose? “Well, he is not a god,” Bruguera said. “He cannot make me a god.”

Marc Rosset of Switzerland defeated Patrick Rafter of Australia, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, but the 13th-seeded Rosset still had to answer questions about his dismal record in Grand Slam events, as opposed to his excellent record elsewhere on the tour. Rosset is apparently tired of the questions. “I am asked the question four times a year,” he said hotly. “You know, when I find the key of why I don’t play so well, I am going to have a big press conference and tell the press why. Right now, I don’t know why. If I knew, I would play better.”