Agassi aces his first test of 2006 - 網球

Agassi wins opening match of the year at Delray

January 31, 2006

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Andre Agassi won his opening match of the year
6-4, 6-4 over Ricardo Mello of Brazil on Monday at the International Tennis
Championships.

Agassi had played only one match since reaching the U.S. Open final last
September. He sprained his left ankle playing racquetball Oct. 12 and
aggravated the injury during the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in
Shanghai, where he was upset by Nicolay Davydenko in the first round.

The top-seeded Agassi started Monday's match in impressive form, opening his
first service game with three aces and an overhead smash. He finished with 10
aces and never faced a break point in 10 service games.

"I didn't know what I got into there," said Agassi, of smacking three aces in
a row in the second game of the match. "I guess I was excited to get out
there."

The ninth-ranked Agassi went up 5-4 in the second set, breaking serve on his
second break point of the ninth game.

Mello, ranked No. 147, was able to take Agassi to deuce for the first time in
the match in the final game, but Agassi won the next two points with a
forehand and backhand crosscourt winner.

"I anticipated it would be very difficult," Agassi said of his start to the
season. "The last couple of weeks in practice, I had random moments of
frustration getting familiar with the court again.

"You never know how it's going to be in your first match. Tonight I was
expecting it to be uncomfortable but it was better than that."

Two former greats from the women's game -- Agassi's wife, Steffi Graf, and
Chris Evert, who lives in nearby Boca Raton -- were among the 5,247 fans
watching Agassi in his first career appearance at the Delray Beach
tournament.

Mardy Fish, returning to the tour following two operations on his left wrist
last season, suffered a frustrating 6-3, 6-3 loss to Simon Greul of Germany.

"It wasn't the wrist. I think it was the rust," said Fish, who hadn't played
a match since losing in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open.

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