Agassi Not One to String Things Out

The winner lost only two points on his own serve in the third set, and, sure, you had to expect that from a leading American player in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

But it was Andre Agassi handing out the punishment Friday at the Great Western Forum, not Pete Sampras. Agassi made Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic look like a puppet, pulling him from side to side, back and forth.

Agassi played perhaps his cleanest match since winning the Australian Open in January. His two singles victories in the first round of the Davis Cup at Zimbabwe were on fumes, achieved by sheer will. This time, he rose to the occasion in laser-sharp form, defeating Dosedel, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, energizing the crowd and pulling his team even after the first day.

Agassi, who had only seven unforced errors and 36 winners, hugged U.S. captain John McEnroe and later celebrated with his coach, Brad Gilbert, in the Forum hallway, Gilbert, saying, “Way to go, Rock.”

Gilbert is not on the court with Agassi and McEnroe, but might as well be. Agassi probably hears as much from Gilbert as he does from McEnroe.

“He thrives on these opportunities,” Gilbert said. “[Jiri] Novak went out and played a hell of a match against Pete. And [Agassi] went out and did what he had to do.

“He’s been struggling the last few weeks. This is a good court for him, slow, indoors. He has the chance to really work the point. He thrives on this. I think he’s inspired to be out there for John too.”

McEnroe agreed.

“People have to sort of realize that this is the type of situation that brings out the best in Andre,” he said. “You know, he’s saving himself for me and Davis Cup.”

Everyone in the interview room laughed.

“The hell with those other tournaments,” McEnroe said. “I’ll let him win the other majors, that’s OK.”

Unlike at Zimbabwe, Agassi had to wait to play his opening singles match. He said he prepared by watching the Masters on TV, trying to take his mind off the Sampras-Novak match.

It must have worked, because Agassi was leading, 4-1, in the first set by the time Sampras finished his post-match news conference.

“You always want to go out there and be rock-solid in an environment that can potentially get uncomfortable quickly,” Agassi said. “Being Davis Cup, I feel like that was the best I’ve played [lately]. I’ve played some good tennis at certain times, but start to finish, since Australia, that was the best.”

Said Dosedel, “I played really good, but I made some easy mistakes, which, against such a good player, I shouldn’t do.”

Agassi’s extraordinary efforts at Melbourne and then in Zimbabwe, were debilitating and he is only now starting to fully recover. He threw up on the court right near the end of his second singles match in Zimbabwe, playing Byron Black, and his back stiffened on the long trip back to the United States.

Which is why he bristled when asked about his recent “slump.”

“Well, explain to me about my slump here,” Agassi said. “Not winning everything? You know, it’s not easy to be at your best week after week, and I’ll tell everybody right now, it’s not going to happen that way. So you have to make sure that you are in the position to be at your best for the times where you really need it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE BOX SCORE

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DOSEDEL AGASSI Total points won 55 87 Aces 3 7 Double faults 3 1 Pct. of 1st serves 70 71 Pct. of 1st serve points won 65 82 Pct. of 2nd serve points won 41 80 Service games broken 0 4 Winners (including service) 24 36 Advances to net/points 37-17 21-18 Time of match 1:30

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