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 Unexpected detour Agassi comeback derailed with early Wimbledon loss
Posted: Thursday June 25, 1998 07:05 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andre Agassi's quick, mincing, pigeon-toed steps between points, like a bird on the beach, hinted at his nervousness. His double faults, slapped hastily and haphazardly in Thursday's 36-minute resolution of a suspended duel against 20-year-old German Tommy Haas, made it seem as if Agassi couldn't wait to flee his torment on Centre Court. His hesitation in going for a volley on a crucial point -- he merely turned to watch the ball float past him for a winner -- cost him a game and, ultimately, the match, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Agassi, the 1992 champion who came to Wimbledon this year intent on showing he can be a contender again after a year's absence, glumly joined the exodus of half of the 16 men's seeds before the end of the second round. "It took even Michael Jordan a year before he got to where he was playing his best again," the No. 13 Agassi said, comparing his year off after marrying actress Brooke Shields to Jordan's venture into baseball. "So I have to give myself at least a year just to see whatever my best may be. Right now, I feel like I have a lot more to do with some of these defeats than my opponents do." French Open champion Carlos Moya, No. 5, preceded Agassi on Centre Court by tumbling out against Morocco's Hicham Arazi, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. No. 9 Richard Krajicek, picked by Agassi to win the title for the second time in three years, advanced easily in three sets against Romania's Dinu Pescuriu. Most of the women's seeds are still going, though defending champion and No. 1 Martina Hingis struggled in a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Elena Makarova, a Russian ranked No. 79. No. 3 Jana Novotna, runner-up for the second time last year, survived a three-setter against Russia's Tatiana Ponova. Venus Williams, No. 7, set a women's tour record with a 125 mph serve in a 6-1, 6-2 trouncing of Austria's Barbara Schett. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy held the record with a 123-mph serve, also at Wimbledon. Serena Williams, unseeded and given the honor of playing on Centre Court in only her second Wimbledon match, crushed fellow 16-year-old Mirjana Lucic, 6-3, 6-0. Jennifer Capriati, a semifinalist at 15 in 1991, faded this time against 1994 semifinalist Lori McNeil, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. At 34, McNeil is the oldest player in the tournament. One of the youngest men in the field, Haas is playing only his second Wimbledon. When he left Germany as a skinny stripling seven years ago, everywhere he looked in his new American home at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, he saw photographs of Agassi. Agassi with big, puffy hair. Agassi with a ponytail. Agassi in action shots. Agassi holding trophies. The academy seemed a shrine to Agassi, who a year before reached the finals of the French and U.S. Opens. Haas, just 12 then, watched Agassi practice, ate in the same dining room and studied under the same teachers, from Bollettieri to the coaches who work with all the juniors. Haas didn't idolize Agassi the way he did Boris Becker, but he tried to learn from him.
But Haas didn't try to emulate Agassi's flamboyance on or off the court. "What I saw in Tommy was discipline and determination," Bollettieri said by telephone from Florida. "We took our time with Tommy. If Tommy had stayed in Germany and been rushed to accomplish what he's doing now, I don't think he would have been as good." Against Agassi, Haas carried out his plan to jam him with serves, keep him moving and not lose composure. Instead, it was Agassi who got ruffled at key moments in the match. Agassi complained vehemently about a call in the third-set tiebreaker Wednesday night. TV replays confirmed that Agassi was right, that the forehand by Haas was long and wide by about six inches, but the call stood and gave Haas a 6-3 lead. Two points later, Agassi dropped the tiebreaker, and play was suspended for the night because of darkness. "Three people had to miss that call," Agassi said. "because it was long, it was wide, and nobody overruled it. It was just a shocker to me." Haas acknowledged that the ball was out, but said the blown call merely got him even after one that went against him earlier. When they returned in brilliant, late afternoon sunshine for the fourth set, Agassi seemed on the way to tying up the match when he broke Haas in the first game and took a 3-1 lead. But in Agassi's next service game, he suddenly started playing unusually fast from point to point, fell behind love-40, and three points later double-faulted to drop the game. "Andre got very, very nervous today," Bollettieri said. "When you see those little pigeon-toe steps, you know he's nervous." Nervous and tentative. Agassi hesitated on a backhand by Haas instead of going for an easy volley. The ball landed well inside the baseline and gave Haas a 5-4 lead. "I thought his ball was flying, but I realized after it bounced that I was the one that was flying, and the ball was actually floating," Agassi said. "It went by me like a blur. I thought, `It's out.' It will tell you in any club manual, if you're not sure if it's going in or out, hit the ball." Agassi then double-faulted to fall to match point. He escaped that jam, but wasn't so lucky the second time, spraying a forehand wide.
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