Refreshed Agassi leads Americans into round two - 網球

Refreshed Agassi leads Americans into round two

By Matthew Cronin
Monday, May 26, 2003

On a day that saw three significant men's seeds crash out of the tournament,
top Americans Andre Agassi and Serena Williams steamrolled into the second
round on Monday.

Agassi, the 1999 champion and No2 seed, tore apart Slovakia's Karol Beck
6/2 6/3 6/3, while Williams crushed Germany's Barbara Rittner 6/2 6/1.

Agassi and Serena were joined by fellow seeded Americans James Blake,
Chanda Rubin, Meghann Shaughnessy and Laura Granville, as well as Australia's
Mark Philippoussis.

But fifth seed Roger Federer, 10th seed Paradorn Srichaphan and two-time
finalist Alex Corretja all went down, as did former titlist Mary Pierce.

Agassi, who had played only one match coming in here since winning the title
in Houston five weeks ago, completely controlled the court against the
overwhelmed Beck, who often found himself pinned to the baseline, wondering
where the eight-time Grand Slam champion was going next.

"I felt comfortable," Agassi said. "You certainly don't ever want a lack of
match play, but I've played a fair amount this year. I've always contended
that it's better for me to come in here fresh, fit and anxious to get
comfortable. I could come in here with more clay matches and be in the grind
mentality and find myself plateauing off. I'd rather come in, sort of
struggle to find a groove but know that once I do, I'm ready to shift the
gear and have a bigger upside late in the tournament."

The 33-year-old Agassi wasn't stunned by Federer's loss to Luis Horna,
saying that young players need to learn to ignore outside pressures and focus
on the ball when they are involved in dangerous first round matches.

"When you've been through it a few times, you realize it just boils down to
what happens between the lines," Agassi said. "It boils down to executing, playing your best and making sure you're in a position to play your best in the biggest tournaments. Every week has a new environment to adjust to. Any time two people have to adjust to the elements, that's going to be an equalizer. It's not about pressure and nerves as much it is about a lot of good players and a scenario that lends for a big equalizer,
the first round."

Even though second-seeded Agassi is the oldest player in the field, he remains
one of the fittest players on tour. He's been working on improving his
endurance, which he said is key to winning the event.

"I fell pretty experienced in my preparation and felt as ready, if not more
ready, than I've ever been," he said.

The 24th-seeded Blake whacked forehand winners to all angles of the court in
downing his compatriot, Taylor Dent 6/4 6/3 7/6(3). Blake has struggled during
the clay court season, losing to Guillermo Coria at Monte Carlo, Olivier Mutis
in Houston, Radek Stepanek in Rome and Gaston Gaudio in Hamburg. Last week at
World Team Cup, he fell to Carlos Moya and No1 Lleyton Hewitt before upsetting
Jiri Novak - his first win in a month.

The American, who won a doubles match against France in Davis Cup here last
year, says he is still learning to play on the surface. However, Blake has
catlike speed and a huge forehand, two key components of solid clay court play.

"It's more the patience," Blake said. "I grew up on hard courts where if you
get an opening, you take a rip. Most of the time it's not coming back. Here
it's coming back a lot more often so you have to hit two or three winners in a
point instead of one."

The 23-year-old Blake said he's come a long way from a few years ago, when he
was stunned in the Roland-Garros qualifying by Clemens Trimmel.

"Every time I come back here, I remember what my coach calls possibly the
darkest day since he's been coaching me, what he calls my worst match
thinking-wise," said Blake. "He had basically one shot and for some reason
I decided to go there and test it the entire match. Now I analyze situations
a lot better. I wouldn't be surprised to do well, make the quarters or semis,
go as far as I can here."

The 29th-seeded Spadea won his sixth-straight five-set match, downing
Georgia's Irakli Labadze 6/1 3/6 5/7 6/4 6/1.

Shaughnessy also had to go to the depths to defeat the highly talented Russian
teen Svetlana Kuznetsova 3/6 7/5 11/9.

The eighth seed Rubin overcame Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova, 6/2 6/4 while
31st seed Granville took out fellow American Meilen Tu 1/6 6/1 6/4.



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這個訪問的內容
AA似乎蠻有信心的
還倚來賣老的傳授年輕一輩第一輪的經驗 ：)










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