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Tennis briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 2, 2001

Agassi continues his roll

KEY BISCAYNE -- Perhaps the only player at the Ericsson Open who could have given Andre Agassi trouble Sunday was watching from the president's box: Rod Laver.

Even Laver would have had his hands full, partly because he is 62 and partly because Agassi is playing the best tennis of his life. The latest evidence: a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-0 drubbing of Jan-Michael Gambill in the final.

"I don't think anybody in the world could have beaten him today," Gambill said.

Agassi has won the three biggest tournaments to date this year -- Key Biscayne, Indian Wells and the Australian Open. He is the first man to sweep since Pete Sampras in 1994, and he is the runaway leader in the ATP champions race.

"This is a great point to be right now," said Agassi, who heads into the clay-court season hoping to make a run at his second French Open title. "I just hope that I continue to be at my best and make somebody play well to beat me and get a little lucky every now and then."

Seeded third, Agassi became the first four-time men's champion at Key Biscayne. After surviving a close first set, he dominated every phase, serving well, keeping Gambill away from the net and controlling the baseline rallies to sweep the final nine games.

Gambill raved about his opponent's ability to keep points going.

"I have a lot to learn from Andre," Gambill said. "He fielded some balls that I just can't even fathom how he does it. I'll hit a ball 100 mph, and somehow he fields it back, and I'm running for the next one thinking, 'How does he do that?' "

Gambill, seeded 19th, recovered from a 2-0 deficit in the first set, serving well to reach 6-6. But he committed two unforced errors in the tiebreaker, and Agassi seized the opening. A deft drop volley put Agassi up 4-3, and he smacked a forehand winner and service winner on the final two points to take the set.

From there the rout was on.

"Andre is maybe the best thinker the game has ever had," Gambill said. "He knows the angles. He sees shots other guys just don't."

Agassi improved to 22-2 this year, his best start since 1995, when he was 29-2. He said he is a better player than six years ago because he is a better athlete.

"I'm stronger and faster and move better," he said. "When I move better, I have more options. And I have a lot more experience to make good decisions with those options."

Agassi, who turns 31 on April 29, became the oldest Key Biscayne men's champion. He also won the title in 1990, '95 and '96.

Does winning keep him young?

"I feel old when I see mousse in my opponent's hair," Agassi joked, referring to Gambill. "I believe I can do this for a few more years, but I don't know. I've never been 31 before."

CBS BAILS OUT: CBS did not air most of the third-set tiebreaker in Saturday's women's final between Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati because of its rush to get to pregame programming for the NCAA men's basketball semifinals. CBS carried the match at 1:30 p.m. on 60-minute tape delay. The network said it needed to leave Ericsson coverage by 3:30 p.m. and gave no thought to broadcasting all the third-set tiebreaker. CBS did not show the match live because it wanted to fit it into a two-hour time block.

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