Wednesday, August 09, 2000
Agassi, Sampras win easily
No. 6 Corretja highest seed to fall
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — Through two days, the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati has ducked both rainouts and upsets.
Despite a 21/2-hour rain delay to begin Tuesday's sessions, all scheduled matches were played. Even better news: The big names stayed. All but one of the top eight seeds have advanced to today's second round.
That has been the norm. In 14 of the tournament's last 15 years, both finalists have been ranked in the top 10 — a stat no other tournament can match.
“I don't have an explanation for that,” defending champion Pete Sampras said. “It seems like you've always had either myself or (Patrick) Rafter, Andre (Agassi), in the semis and finals.”
When the clouds held Tuesday, the stars came out. Agassi and Sampras, the top two seeds, won easily.
Sampras cruised past Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-2. Agassi had lost in the first round of the Masters Series Canada event last week, but the top seed regained form in beating Wayne Ferreira 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
“I think I need a few more matches before I'm feeling good about my game, my confidence,” Agassi said.
The highest seed to fall was No.6 Alex Corretja, who was upset 6-4, 6-4 Tuesday by Jonas Bjorkman. Corretja, who leads the Tour this year in winning percentage (.822), has never done well here. He's 2-6 lifetime.
Among the most intriguing matches today:
• Serve-and-volley monster Mark Philippoussis vs. baseliner Marcelo Rios. Rios is a former No.1 player better known for clay-court success. Philippoussis is a 6-foot-4, 202-pounder who specializes on hard courts.
• The tournament's highest-ranked player — ATP Champions Race points leader Gustavo Kuerten, seeded fourth here — against its oldest — 35-year-old Gianluca Pozzi. Pozzi beat the tourney's youngest player, 17-year-old Andy Roddick, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 Tuesday.
• Carlos Moya vs. Bjorkman. Both are trying to recapture form: Moya once was ranked No.1; Bjorkman was once No.4.
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