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Agassi, Moya win; Schuettler, Pavel eliminated in Cincinnati

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  • Agassi, Moya win; Schuettler, Pavel eliminated in Cincinnati

    Agassi, Moya win; Schuettler, Pavel eliminated in Cincinnati

    .c The Associated Press


    CINCINNATI (AP) - Former two-time champion Andre Agassi advanced to
    the second round of the Cincinnati Masters when Mardy Fish retired in
    the third set with a back injury on Monday.

    Agassi, the last back-to-back winner in 1995-96, was leading 4-6, 7-6
    (3), 4-1 when Fish quit.

    Agassi isn't sure whether this will be his final year on the tour and
    is hoping to be back in form in time for the U.S. Open. Seeded 11th,
    he has recovered from a sore hip that bothered him this summer.

    His goal in Cincinnati is to build up confidence.

    ``I need all these matches now to do that,'' Agassi said. ``I've got
    to string a few together now. So it would be really nice to see my
    game elevate as the tournament progresses.''

    In other matches, 2002 champion Carlos Moya, French Open winner Gaston
    Gaudio and 14th-seeded Marat Safin also progressed, but No. 8 Rainer
    Schuettler, No. 16 Andrei Pavel and 2000 champion Thomas Enqvist were
    eliminated.

    Fish was the beaten finalist last year to Andy Roddick, and had won
    his only previous match against Agassi in the San Jose semifinals in
    February.

    He broke 10th-seeded Agassi in the ninth game and completed the first
    set on his fourth ace. In the second-set tiebreak, Agassi broke for
    2-1 and the 7-3 clincher. But at 1-1 in the third, Agassi won three
    straight games before Fish's injury worsened.

    Carlos Moya, who beat No. 1-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the 2002 final,
    overcame British qualifier Arvind Parmar 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 by winning the
    final four games of the match, and No. 9-seeded Gaudio dispatched
    U.S. wild card Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-2.

    Safin crushed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-0 for his first
    tour win in two months since the French Open. Safin had lost his last
    three first-round matches, including at Wimbledon.

    Tommy Haas broke in the last game to beat German countryman Schuettler
    6-3, 1-6, 6-4 for the first time in five career meetings.

    ``I finally got a win,'' Haas said. ``It certainly wasn't a pretty
    match. In the end, it came down to a couple of points here and
    there.''

    Schuettler, also ranked No. 8, lost his sixth consecutive match on
    hard courts since February.

    Haas next faces Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, who beat Swiss qualifier
    Michel Kratochvil 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.

    Wayne Arthurs of Australia, a late replacement in the draw for David
    Sanchez of Spain, upset 16th-seeded Pavel of Romania 7-6 (5), 6-3. The
    first-round loss was Pavel's fourth in five appearances in the
    tournament.

    Sweden's Enqvist was ousted by Britain's Greg Rusedski 3-6, 6-3 6-2.
    Rusedski had to qualify, and he'll play Gaudio next.

    Argentines Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian, set to be seeded
    Nos. 3 and 6, withdrew with respective shoulder and elbow injuries.

    08/02/04 18:44 EDT

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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