Sport - Tennis

For Agassi, life began at 30...

By Nirmal Shekar

United States' Andre Agassi has a word of commiseration for Nicolas Escude of France after winning their third round encounter in four sets at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.

Melbourne Jan. 17. Over 30 is over the hill? Well, most of us believe it is, especially in a sport like tennis where careers begin as early as in the mid-teens. Andre Agassi did too.

As a cocky teenager with a ponytail who had a penchant for wearing clothes that would glow in the dark, a preening showman who was the Anna Kournikova of men's tennis in the late 1980s — but, fortunately, one with 10 times the talent of the Russian — Agassi lived life as if it ended at 30.

Now, approaching age 33, he is more likely to tell you that it began — the life he has truly enjoyed living — at 30. As for the hill part, it's just that he started climbing all over again and is now perched close to the peak.

It is no surprise then that the second best player in the sport is 11 years older than the best — Lleyton Hewitt — and remains his principal challenger for the first Grand Slam title of 2003.

On Friday, at the Australian Open in Melbourne Park, Agassi, seeded two in a tournament which he has won three times, overcame a dangerous opponent in Frenchman Nicolas Escude. The 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory carried the American into the fourth round of a championship in which he has never been beaten before the round of 16.

On April 29, Agassi will turn 33, an age at which most top players are content with watching the action from the TV commentary booth rather than being part of it in the middle. And one of the charismatic American's chief regrets, today, is that he did not start travelling to Australia for this championship until 1995, when he won on debut, beating archrival Pete Sampras in the final — the only time Agassi has beaten the Peerless Pete in a major final.

``That's one of the biggest regrets of my career,'' Agassi said today after his third round victory. "To play here is a joy. There is so much love here. It is a privilege.''

Not surprisingly, the joy is reflected in his tennis. Escude was as tough a third round opponent as Agassi could have expected to face. The Frenchman lives dangerously and, on his day, can beat anybody in the business.

Dicey opponent

The very definition of an attacking player, Escude can be a frustrating opponent for the best in the game. The way he plays, it is almost impossible for the opponent to find any rhythm. He can hit two incredible winners and then shovel a simple backhand or forehand into the net or way beyond the baseline.

``He was pretty dangerous for me. He was putting me under pressure and I needed to step it up,'' said Agassi. "He plays dangerously. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.''

For a period in the match, especially in the third set, it appeared that Escude was more likely to live by it, at least for the day, at the expense of his more famous opponent. After winning the first set comfortably, Agassi saw Escude battle back in the second which the Frenchman took after breaking the American's serve in the fourth game.

The critical set was the third, one in which Escude, playing with his patented buccaneering spirit, looked a clear winner for the most part. After trading breaks early with the Frenchman, Agassi was fighting with his back to the wall most of the time.

In the fifth and seventh games, Agassi had to fend off a total of six breakpoints before three straight errors from Escude presented the American with a break in the eighth game. Then, serving for the set, Agassi had to fight off five breakpoints and then come back from 1-3 down to take the fourth set and the match on a rather warm day when he would have hated to find himself amidst any sort of fifth set drama.

``He hit some amazing shots but also made some costly errors,'' said Agassi who played the big points as confidently and as well as he might have wanted to.

Mantilla upstages Costa

Meanwhile, French Open champion and eighth seed Albert Costa of Spain was beaten in five sets by countryman Felix Mantilla who won the third round match 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. It was Mantilla's third victory in 10 matches against Costa.

Also a popular winner during the day was the 18-year old Croatian Mario Ancic, nicknamed the New Goran (Ivanisevic). With tremendous support from the local Croatian community in the stands, Ancic overcame a lethargic start to beat Peter Luczak of Australia 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.

But the day's most thrilling contest was enacted in the Vodofone Arena where fourth-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero outlasted Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, wrapping up the win on his fourth matchpoint in a memorable climax. The match lasted three hours and 34 minutes.

Perfect day for Paes

Leander Paes and David Rikl are not a successful partnership firm yet. But if they continue to play as well as they did on Friday in disposing of the experienced, talented Moroccans, Hicham Arazi and Younes el Aynaoui 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to make the third round, then anything is possible for the Indo-Czech pair.

It was the finest tennis that the two men have played since coming together and the manner in which Paes and Rikl took control of the match in the first set tiebreak should do a lot to boost their confidence.

They complemented each other well in a match in which Rikl served wonderfully well and Paes hit some amazing returns. After both teams held serves confidently, Paes and Rikl traded an early mini-break with the Moroccans in the tiebreak before finding the crucial mini-break on the eighth point. The left-handed Rikl went on to serve out the tiebreak without fuss.

That success lifted Paes and Rikl and they went on to dominate the second set, winning five games in a row, before allowing their opponents one service game. By then the match had already been won and lost in the players' minds.

``I have always believed that we just needed to get a few matches under our belt and things will start working our way. Today we played solid tennis. We are improving with each match,'' said Paes.

A few hours later, playing with the legendary Martina Navratilova, Paes recorded his second victory of the day. The 46-year-old Navratilova and Paes beat Scott Draper and Lisa McShea of Australia 6-3, 7-5 in a thoroughly entertaining first round mixed doubles contest.

There was the first taste of success for Paes's former doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi too on this day. Playing with Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, the Indian Davis Cupper upstaged the eighth-seeded pair of Brian MacPhie of the United States and Rika Fujiwara of Japan 6-2, 6-2 in a first round battle.

The results (prefix denotes seedings):

Men's singles (third round): Mario Ancic (Cro) bt Peter Luczak (Aus) 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-2; Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 7-5, 6-2, 6-2; 2-Andre Agassi (U.S.) bt 29-Nicolas Escude (Fra) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Felix Mantilla (Esp) bt 5-Albert Costa (Esp) 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3;

Wayne Ferreira (RSA) bt Mardy Fish (U.S.) 2-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0; Sargis Sargsian (Arm) bt Mark Philippousis (Aus) 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-4; 4-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) bt 28-Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; 12-Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt 24-Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

Women's singles (third round): 2-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt Anca Barna (Ger) 6-1, 6-4; 5-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt 32-Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) 6-2, 6-0; Denisa Chladkova (Czech) bt Evie Dominikovic (Aus) 6-3, 6-2; 12-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Nadia Petrova (Rus) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt 23-Paola Suarez (Arg) 7-5, 6-4; 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slo) bt Samantha Stosur (Aus) 6-4, 6-2; 9-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) bt 24-Tatiana Panova (Rus) 6-2, 6-1; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Esp) bt Marlene Weingartner (Ger) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

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