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In Comeback, He's the Agassi of Defeat

Every year since 1990, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic has captured snapshots of Andre Agassi's career. He's come with long hair and then no hair, dressed in neon and then white, with Brooke Shields as his girlfriend and then as his wife. Two years ago, ranked No. 1 in the world, he won the tournament for the third time with desire so intense, he vomited into a courtside flower pot during the final and yet carried on.

Last night presented an altogether new picture. Agassi, who received a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed, lost a second-round match to unseeded Doug Flach, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, before 7,312 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. Fatigue smothered Agassi midway through the second set, ruining his bid to make a strong comeback from a layoff of 2½ months and a dismal season that has dropped him to 31st in the rankings.

"It's been a long time since I was out there, and I didn't expect much," he said after falling to the 174th-ranked Flach.

Agassi's previous match was a second-round loss to Magnus Norman at the AT&T Challenge in Atlanta on May 1, when he injured the right, serving wrist he had surgically repaired three years ago. Yesterday's loss dropped Agassi to 6-7 this season and was his second straight to Flach, who beat him in the first round of Wimbledon last year and is now 2-2 against him.

"For me to play over an hour, it's uncharted territory right now," said Agassi, whose match lasted 1 hour 46 minutes. My wrist is fine, but my game is nowhere near where it is usually at this point in the year."

Agassi's loss was preceded by several mini-dramas. Michael Tebbutt defeated No. 4 Chris Woodruff. Tommy Haas, 19, dealt with distractions and defeated Mark Merklein. David Wheaton won while returning from injury and struggling to regain top form. And, for the third straight day, the maddening mercury, which rose to 111 degrees on the hard court, played a leading role in the day's proceedings. Agassi was betrayed by what are usually his greatest assets: his serve, his baseline play and his conditioning.

He came out strong, winning the first game and showing his characteristic feistiness in the third game. After a line call denied him a serve, Agassi complained to the line judge. He then served to the same area for a defiant ace, smiling broadly. He broke Flach twice late in the set, which he won in 29 minutes.

Early in the second set, Agassi remained dominant, taking leads of 3-2 and 4-3. "I thought he was going to run me off the court quickly," Flach said.

But midway through, Agassi began to tire. He lost the last three games of the set, double-faulting to lose the fifth game.

The strong returns Agassi employed in the first set deserted him in the third. He sent several into the net, and he had further trouble while serving. He lost his first game of the set by double-faulting twice and his third with another double fault. He had 15 for the match; Flach had one.

"When you don't play for a long time, the first thing to go is your serve," said Agassi, who won this tournament in 1990, '91 and '95. "It was good for a while. When my legs were there, I was winning handily. But when I gave him a say-so, he took it. I just have to make sure that when I play an hour of tennis my arm doesn't feel like it weighs 30 pounds."

Flach won his fourth game with two straight aces and the match with another ace,accentuating Agassi's fatigue.

"I could sense it; you could kind of tell he was tired, because he obviously was slow getting to some of my shots down the line," Flach said. "Late in the match, his serve didn't have the pop it did earlier, so I had to take advantage of that."

Agassi stated firmly that he still has the desire to win and play a full summer schedule, including the U.S. Open. But he also stressed that he will need time.

"I can only do so much," he said.

"Right now, it's a chore to beat Doug Flach, so I have to take it one step at a time."

Tebbutt's last Association of Tennis Professionals Tour victory came in the first round of the 1996 U.S. Open, when he was ranked in the top 100. Ranked 271st this week, Tebbutt had to qualify here, looking for the one good week that would snap him out of his slump. Beating the 56th ranked Woodruff, 6-3, 6-3, was a start.

Woodruff couldn't handle Tebbutt's service game and won just 11 of 50 return points. "He didn't have a chance on my serve," said Tebbutt, who became the fourth Australian to advance to the round of 16.

Haas's 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory came despite numerous problems. Behind 3-1 in the first set, Haas switched rackets because his first one was "scratched." Then, he got sloppy in the second set, sending several balls into the net and wide, his mobility limited by a bone bruise on the bottom of his left big toe. He said he hurt the toe two days ago while making the transition from grass to hardcourt. Wheaton defeated No. 12 Marzio Martelli of Italy, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Wheaton, No. 12 in the world and a Wimbledon semifinalist 1991, had to qualify here. Bone spurs were removed from his right leg March 31, and the resulting discomfort has hampered his game.

Ticket sales already have surpassed the total from last year, said tournament officials, with 4,622 tickets sold for yesterday's afternoon session.

© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

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