Another title for Andre Agassi

Another title for Andre Agassi
Sandra Harwitt

MIAMI, APRIL 2: Andre Agassi strengthened his hold over men’s tennis this year by beating fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-0 to win the Ericsson Open. Agassi collected a record 12th Masters Series crown, became the first man to win three titles this season and the first ever to win the Miami tournament four times.

The third-seed, who started his 2001 campaign by defending his Australian Open title in January, arrived at Miami fresh from triumph in the Tennis Masters Series-Indian Wells.

Pete Sampras was the last player to win the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami in the same year when he made an electrifying start to 1994. Agassi is the only active player to have won all four Grand Slam titles at some time in his career, the Olympic Gold Medal (Atlanta 1996) and was part of winning Davis Cup squads (1990, ’92, ’95).

“You have to do a number of things right for your career to last this long in the sport,” said the 30-year-old Agassi. “I have taken off some years that I have spent a lot of nights regretting. But I am still out here doing it and that, to me, is making up for some of that.”

And with an impressive 22-2 win-loss record for the year, he has made his best start of a season since 1995 when he was 29-2. The 30-year-old, who lost to Britain’s Greg Rusedski in the San Jose final and to Francisco Clavet of Spain in the first round at Scottsdale, has now won 11 consecutive matches, dropping only three sets.

There has been much talk of the 19th-ranked Gambill suggesting he is one of America’s future stars of tennis.

But Sunday, the 23-year-old Washington State native looked a long way from superstardom in comparison to Agassi in the one hour, 51-minute match. This was Gambill’s first outing in a Tennis Masters Series level final and Agassi was far better equipped to handle the occasion.

Gambill faded in the match as Agassi had his way and manipulated the points into long rallies a strategy that works in Agassi’s favor even as he approaches his 31st birthday this month. “Things have been going my way a lot,” Gambill said. “I have been playing some great tennis. I am going to come out of this week feeling great. I am not too down about losing to Andre in the final.”

Gambill, who won his second career title last month at the Delray Beach tournament, struggled with his volleys throughout. Agassi immediately snatched the initiative when he broke serve in the first game of the match.

After Gambill tried to assert himself in the first set, his game went limp in the next two sets as Agassi stepped up the pressure. “When things go well and everything is coming together, you can really structure a match in a way that as long as the match goes, the more it starts favouring you,” said Agassi, who has won seven Grand Slam titles in his career.

Safin world No 1
LONDON:Marat Safin regained the world number one spot in the ATP’s Entry System on Monday despite a second-round defeat in last week’s Ericsson Open. The Russian leapfrogged Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten into top spot because he equalled his 2000 performance in Miami whereas Kuerten, runner-up last year, fell in the third round this time.