Scott Draper all but apologized to the fans at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center yesterday for failing to provide them with much of a match in the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Andre Agassi didn't bother. Why apologize for playing so brilliantly that no one — certainly not Draper — had any chance of beating him yesterday?

Agassi capped off his utterly unstoppable run here by beating Draper 6-2, 6-0 in 50 minutes to claim his record fourth Legg Mason title in what was the shortest final on the ATP Tour this year. Then he scooped up his $95,000 winner's check and declared himself ready to win the U.S. Open.

"If this was disappointing," Agassi told the crowd, "I hope to disappoint 20,000 people at the U.S. Open this year."

Apparently, Agassi likes to do things quickly — and that includes turning around his season, if not his career. Last November he was ranked a pitiful 141st in the world; on Monday, he'll be ranked a season-high 13th. And in just 10 days — the bulk of them spent in Washington — Agassi has gone from calling this "a foundational year" to talking openly about the U.S. Open, and the possibility of winning the fourth Grand Slam title of his career.

"If I'm playing like this, I feel like I can win the U.S. Open," said Agassi, who also won here in 1990, 1991 and 1995. "There's no question in my mind, it's in my wheelhouse.

Yes, it has been that good a week. The crowds here did not have a chance to see much of Agassi — he averaged just under an hour per match, didn't drop a set and lost his serve once — but what they did see was Agassi at his best. By his estimation, and that of Draper, Agassi is playing better than he did when he won here in 1995 as the top player in the world.

"I just think he's playing . . . " Draper trailed off, searching for words. "I played him when he was number one in the world and he was playing better today. You know you're going to be in trouble if you're playing that well."

After grabbing Agassi's attention with some well-hit winners in the first few games, Draper tried to lift his game to meet that of his opponent and found himself making a mess of things instead. He started the first set with a 2-1 lead, then lost 11 straight games, winning a mere eight points in the second set. At one point, some sympathetic fans in the upper-deck seats yelled, "C'mon Scotty!" prompting a smattering of applause. But that applause quickly was interrupted by the more caustic shout of "C'mon Michael!"

Michael meant Michael Chang, the two-time defending champion and top seed who withdrew from the tournament prior to his semifinal Saturday because he aggravated a wrist injury. Chang's injury was doubly disappointing given that he, too, appeared to be having something of a renaissance this week, with a quarterfinal performance against Jim Courier on Friday night that was nothing short of spectacular.

Draper, who got the walkover, graciously referred to Chang's withdrawal as "unfortunate" when he spoke to fans yesterday, and was humble about his inability to force Agassi to play a little longer.

"I tried my best to give you a good match," Draper said. "But unfortunately Andre was just too good on the day."

That said, Draper is no slouch of a player, and neither is Wayne Ferreira, whom Agassi dismantled 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals Saturday.

After a rough time at the French Open, where he hurt his shoulder, and Wimbledon, where he felt, in his words, "all out of sorts," Agassi started his turnaround at a Davis Cup quarterfinal in Indianapolis last weekend. There, he beat Belgium's Christophe Van Garsse and Filip Dewulf to lead the United States to victory. Then, Agassi hopped a plane to Washington and reeled off a staggering tournament run.

"Realistically, I couldn't expect a couple of weeks ago to necessarily be ready to win the Open, or at least to go in believing that I could win," Agassi said. "Now, I'm really playing well. No question, I'm really playing well. Ten days can make that kind of difference. At least, for me they can."

To Agassi, it is not surprising that he found his big boost here — this tournament long has been important to his career. A kickoff tournament for the U.S hard-court season (hard courts being Agassi's preferred surface), Washington was where Agassi started a sizzling streak in 1995, when he went on to win 26 straight matches — and titles in Washington, Canada, Cincinnati and New Haven, Conn. — before Pete Sampras stopped him in the U.S. Open final. And while many of the top players shy away from this tournament because of the often horrific heat, Agassi told the fans yesterday that he plans to play the Legg Mason the remainder of his career.

"I love this city, I love the enthusiasm created in this stadium," Agassi said, to big applause from the crowd. "As long as I'm playing this game, this is where I want to be to start every summer."