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Friday, September 04, 1998
Agassi wins, airs discord
Andre Agassi's five-set victory takes a back seat to his complaints with the USTA and the Davis Cup.
By Lisa Dillman
Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK -- Las Vegan Andre Agassi needed nearly three hours Thursday to solve Guillaume Raoux of France, scrambling through five sets and finally landing in the third round of the U.S. Open.
Dismantling the United States Tennis Association for its handling of the Davis Cup site selection and fellow American Michael Chang was a simpler task, taking about 15 minutes. His discontent with the Davis Cup emerged this summer, specifically his objection over the choice of Milwaukee -- and how it was chosen -- for the semifinals against Italy, Sept. 25-27.
After the eighth-seeded Agassi defeated Raoux 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (8-6), 3-6, 6-1, he moved on and took aim. These days, the list of American Davis Cup dodgers is much longer than the one confirmed participant, Todd Martin.
Agassi, who played in the first two rounds this year, has a conflict with a dinner for his foundation at the MGM Grand Garden. Jim Courier is out because of a career-threatening arm injury. Pete Sampras and Chang are not interested.
Chang has no conflict but is said to be concerned about his fitness level. Agassi was bothered by Chang's lack of participation, then said he is so upset with the USTA's handling of the Davis Cup that he might not play again either.
"Michael is a good guy in many ways," Agassi said. "But I absolutely disagree with the way he has handled himself toward Davis Cup. I think that's not right. I think it's horrible for the game. And I think it shows a lack of respect."
Should the United States defeat Italy, Agassi said he will not play in the final against either Sweden or Spain and might never play again.
"If it was in my back yard, I wouldn't walk out the back door," Agassi said.
That wasn't all.
-- On Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson:
"Nothing against Gully, (but) the players need to be able to (have some) say, not just give our opinion," Agassi said. "I went through this when we went from Tom Gorman to Gully. It is your captain, and the players should pick their captain."
Agassi also said players should have a right to help determine where Davis Cup matches will be held.
-- On John McEnroe as a potential captain:
"There is probably a lot of fear factors giving up the reins," Agassi said. "That's why John didn't get the job. Here is a guy who has done as much for Davis Cup as anybody, and he didn't get the job because he is going to speak his mind."
Unlike Agassi, the top-seeded Sampras didn't need five sets in his second-round match, but he was pushed a bit against wild-card entry Paul Goldstein before winning, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Other men's winners included No. 3 Patrick Rafter, No. 6 Greg Rusedski, No. 7 Alex Corretja, No. 9 Karol Kucera and No. 12 Jonas Bjorkman. Rafter, the defending champion, lost just seven games in his straight-set victory over Hernan Gumy.
After losing in the first round, Marc Rosset was to return to Geneva on Swissair Flight 111, which crashed off the Canadian coast, killing all 229 people aboard. Instead, he stayed an extra day to practice with players still in the tourney.
"It was a strange feeling when you know that for just changing your mind, you are still alive," he said. "I think I am a little afraid, when you realize you were close to dying."
In a night match, Goran Ivanisevic had 20 aces and a 132-mph serve in a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 6-3 victory over Todd Martin.
Drama on the women's side was mainly limited to the great patch controversy. Fifth-seeded Venus Williams ended it -- at least temporarily -- by wearing a Corel WTA tour patch on the left shoulder strap of her outfit in a 6-1, 6-3 second-round victory over Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.
Williams was fined $100 by the WTA for not wearing it during her first-round match on Tuesday.
Martina Hingis moved one step closer to defending her title with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victory over Iva Majoli
Joining Hingis in the third round were No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, No. 7 Conchita Martinez, No. 10 Nathalie Tauziat, No. 12 Mary Pierce, No. 13 Amanda Coetzer and No. 15 Anna Kournikova.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Las Vegan Andre Agassi cracks a return to France's Guillaume Raoux during his second-round victory in the U.S. Open.
Photo by the Associated Press
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