Brad Gilbert has a unique perspective on two of the biggest blowouts in the history of the ATP Tour's Washington stopover. He has been, in a way, on both sides of them.

Gilbert was jovial and happily frenzied Sunday as he tried to schedule a flight out of town following the final of the Legg Mason Classic at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. He had good reason. His charge, Andre Agassi, had easily dispatched Scott Draper in what proved to be the quickest final on the Tour this season — a 6-2, 6-0 pasting that lasted just 50 minutes.

Eleven years ago, Gilbert was on the other side of such an onslaught. However, he didn't have the luxury of watching from the stands. He was the recipient of a 6-1, 6-0 beating by then-No. 1 Ivan Lendl in the final of the Sovran Bank/D.C.National Tennis Classic. Tennis magazine called it the worst match of 1987.

Sunday's final had similarities to the 1987 match. Gilbert ran into the world's best player after upsetting a higher seed in Boris Becker in the semifinals. Draper walked into the finals after the tournament's top seed, Michael Chang, withdrew with a wrist injury. In Sunday's final, Draper ran into a revitalized Agassi, who suddenly looks like a favorite to win the U.S. Open.

"Yeah, I got my [butt] kicked," Gilbert, who turns 37 next month, said of the '87 final. "I felt for that guy [Draper] out there. In [1987], I remember the same thing. I didn't play that bad, Lendl just played unbelievable. And the same thing, Scotty Draper is hitting the ball well. But from 2-1 on, Andre just turned it on and didn't make an unforced error the last couple of games."

Despite the quick loss, Draper was upbeat following the match.

"It's my third final and I played a guy who I consider, on his day, the best player in the modern era," Draper said. "He can play unbelievably. And I just wasn't good enough today."

That's not to say, however, that a stop in Washington is a guaranteed success for the 28-year-old Agassi. In nine appearances over a 12-year span he has won four titles. But just last year he lost his opening match: a second-round ousting by Doug Flach. Flach didn't even qualify for the tournament this season, while Agassi had his serve broken just once en route to this year's title.

"I've gone through a lot of changes and D.C. — the fans who have come out to the tournament — have seen me go through them all," Agassi said. "It's kind of a nice relationship."

Speaking of nice relationships, Coach Gilbert is enjoying his partnership with Agassi. Especially when the wins come as easily as they did Sunday.

"I've had to watch him play bad matches and good matches," Gilbert said. "It's nice to just have a short day."