Agassi Claims 60th Career Title - 網球

Mercedes-Benz Cup
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
July 31, 2005

Top seed Andre Agassi captured his 60th career ATP title and fourth in Los
Angeles after completing a 6-4, 7-5 victory over unseeded Gilles Muller of
Luxembourg in the final of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.

It was the 35-year-old Agassi’s first title since winning the Western &
Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati in August 2004. He was making
his first appearance on the ATP circuit since Roland Garros, having missed
the last two months with a sciatic nerve injury.

Agassi was appearing in his sixth final at the Los Angeles Tennis Center,
having won titles in 1998, 2001-02. He joins join Frank Parker (1941, 1942,
1944, 1945), Roy Emerson (1959, 1962, 1964, 1967) and Jimmy Connors (1973,
1974, 1982, 1984) as the only four-time winners in the 79-year history of
the tournament. Agassi now has a 34-6 record in Los Angeles, having also
reached the final in 1988 and 1999.

With the title, Agassi becomes the fourth over-30 winner on the 2005 ATP
circuit, along with Wayne Arthurs (Scottsdale), Kenneth Carlsen (Memphis)
and Greg Rusedski (Newport). The Los Angeles crown was Agassi’s 15 title
since turning 30 in 2000.

Agassi now has a 60-28 record in ATP finals, the most among active players,
and an 849-253 career win-loss record, which ranks fifth in the Open Era
(since 1968). The American now has a 27-9 record this season

Agassi came into his 88 th career final looking to avenge his loss to the
22-year-old Muller in the semifinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in
Washington last year, which was Muller’s only previous appearance in an
ATP final (l. to Hewitt).

The American made the perfect start, breaking the left-handed Muller’s
serve in the first game before opening up a 3-1 lead. Agassi lost just
two points on his serve in the set, taking it in 34 minutes. The second
set was a much closer contest as both players threatened to break serve
in the opening games. Muller was forced to save four break points in his
first two service games of the set, while Agassi saved one to level at 1-1.

Muller’s only other break point of the match was a set point, as Agassi
served to stay in the set at 4-5. But the American saved that and broke
Muller in the next game, coming back from 40-0 down to win the next five
points. Agassi then wrapped up his straight sets victory in 1 hour, 28
minutes, producing a forehand winner on his second championship point.

Agassi’s win means No. 1 seeds are now 18-0 in ATP finals in 2005.

Earlier in the week, Agassi defeated Jean-Rene Lisnard, Kevin Kim,
Paradorn Srichaphan and Juan Ignacio Chela, dropping just one set
(against Srichaphan) en route to the final.

Muller had a more complicated route to the final, saving four match
points against French qualifier Sebastien de Chaunac in the first
round before defeating Zack Fleishman, Indianapolis winner Robby
Ginepri and second seed Dominik Hrbaty, saving two more match points
in the semifinals.

Prior to this week, Muller’s best result this year was a quarterfinal
finish in Casablanca. Muller is one of only two players to have defeated
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal since April 8, having upset the Spaniard in
the second round at Wimbledon. In that time, Nadal has won 35 of his
37 matches.

Agassi earns $52,000 and earned 35 points toward the INDESIT ATP 2005
Race and the US Open Series. Muller takes home $30,600 and 24 points.

Leach/MacPhie Win Doubles Title
For the first time in 15 tries, Southern California’s Rick Leach has
won in Los Angeles. The 40-year-old teamed with Brian MacPhie to defeat
Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-3, 6-4. Leach and MacPhie won 75 percent
of the points on their serve in the match. The title is the 46th of
Leach’s career and the seventh for MacPhie. It’s the second title
together for the duo that will split $16,350. Erlich and Ram, two-time
titlists in 2005, move to 6-3 all-time in ATP finals.


WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Agassi: “It feels amazing. This is why you work so hard. These moments
don’t happen very often anymore. I’m taking it in, and it’s feeling
pretty good.”

“I think the key was coming back from the two hours against Paradorn
(in the quarterfinals) and to play the next day. That was a big key for
me. That’s been my issue. I’ve had a number of matches where I could
push myself pretty deep, but how I respond has always been tough. In
this case, I feel great with those questions that got answered this week.”


“I’m just thinking about my game right now. I’m still considering
another injection for the pain that I feel in the evenings when I cool
down. Maybe I can just knock it out completely. I might be hoping for
a lot. But my body has responded. My recovery is great. I’m moving
well and making a lot of good decisions. It leaves me hopeful for doing
what it is I love to do and how it is I love to do it.”


Muller: “I lost to him in the first game. That’s what I said
yesterday, I wanted to start well. I got broken in the first game,
and after that it’s tough. He served very good in the first set,
I didn’t have any break points. I wasn’t even close to breaking
him. In the second set, I start to return better and also I felt
that he wasn’t serving as good anymore. I had good chances. I got a
little bit too excited on the set point. I regret nothing.”



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