By Jeff Agase
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
jagase@media.ucla.edu
Here’s a math question you’ll never see on the SAT:
Player A has 52 singles titles, seven Grand Slams and a gold medal.
Player C has one title. Who wins the match? Put that abacus away
““ it’s no trick question. There isn’t even a
Player B to worry about. Andre Agassi (Player A) quickly disposed
of the younger, visibly more inexperienced Kenneth Carlsen (Player
C) 6-3, 6-1 July 23 in the first round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup at
Los Angeles Tennis Center. Playing for the first time since losing
in the second round of Wimbledon a month ago, the second-seeded
Agassi needed just 62 minutes to eject unseeded and 100th-ranked
Carlsen. “I wasn’t going out expecting to play really
well,” Agassi said. “Coming off that last performance,
I needed to get a few things out of my system.” Carlsen was
the unfortunate guinea pig for Agassi’s cleansing. After
breaking the world’s No. 5 player in the third game of the
match, Carlsen saw his booming serve broken four times by one of
tennis’ best all-time returners. Indeed, all Agassi had to do
was position his racket to merely block back one of Carlsen’s
120 mile per hour serves and the big Dane lost any advantage.
“The thing is, if you serve big, you have less time to get in
to the net,” Agassi said. “I was making him volley a
lot, and he started to get anxious out there.” Agassi
frustrated the significantly less-tenured Carlsen by mixing flat
shots with high, looping topspins. He altered tempo with an ease
and confidence that might have made Rush drummer Neil Peart
jealous. “I knew that he didn’t like the ball
high,” Agassi said. “It’s very rare that I think
about an opponent’s weakness before going into the match, but in
this one I came with a few things I think he struggled with.”
Agassi seemed satisfied with his first outing since the early-round
disappointment at Wimbledon, and will take on fellow American Robby
Ginepri in the Round of 16. When asked if he was difficult to be
around for the last month, Agassi showed he hadn’t lost a
step in dealing with the media, either. “I’m never easy
to be around,” he said, laughing.