Tackling the language barrier

Agassi: Spanish-speaking opponents are tough on clay

PARIS, June 1 (Reuters) -- Andre Agassi tackled his first Latin American opponent at the French Open on Sunday and produced a fluent display of baseline excellence to move into the quarterfinals.

Second seed Agassi swept aside Brazilian Flavio Saretta 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 to set up a showdown with another clay-court specialist, either Argentine seventh seed Guillermo Coria or his compatriot Mariano Zabaleta.

"As far as I'm concerned, against anybody that speaks Spanish, it's a good win out there," Agassi said. "Brazilian, Spanish, Portuguese, all of it. Those are all good wins. So today felt really good for me."

After a second-round scare against Croatian Mario Ancic, when he recovered from two sets down to win, Agassi has coasted through the next two matches of his bid for a second French Open crown.

The Australian Open champion said all the stamina work he had put in before the tournament was now paying off.

"I took a physical approach. I was in the gym and on the hill in Vegas just training, trying to get my legs and my wind because physically I think it's the most demanding of all the tournaments," said the 33-year-old Las Vegas resident.

"Coming here I knew I was short of match play. I knew the first week was going to be crucial for me. It turned out to be really crucial to get through that second round match.

"So now it's like a new life. I've sort of found my comfort zone out there. I'm striking the ball well, moving, and feeling pretty comfortable."

 

Related information

Stories

Men's draw hit by injuries Serena, Agassi through to French quarterfinals SI's Jon Wertheim: Midterm grades at the French

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.