London, June 15: Tournament debutant Andre Agassi managed a patchy win to progress to the third round at the $ 800,000 Queen's club event here on Wednesday and admitted that the farther away he stays from grass, the better it is for his game.Ninth seed Briton Greg Rusedski kept the home flags flying as he came through a tougher-than-expected victory over German Jens Knippschild, winning 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (11-9).Swedish ace Magnus Norman quit before his first match with a recurring back injury picked up during the closing stages of his run to the final at Roland Garros.Rusedski is hoping to bury the bitter memories of his four-set loss in the Paris final to Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, who also replaced him at the top of the world standings.Slovakian Karol Kucera, who knocked Agassi out in Paris, defeated off-form fifth-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Enqvist served for the match in the second set but failed.Max Mirnyi of Belarus beat 1999 US Open finalist Todd Martin 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 while Davide Sanguinetti became the second Italian into the last 16 with his victory over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 7-6 (8-6).Rafter bows outHALLE (GERMANY): Australia's two-time US Open champion Patrick Rafter suffered another disappointment in his attempt to recover from a career-threatening shoulder injury when he came within three points of success only to fall in the second round of the Halle Open.The 27-year-old eighth-seed, who won the US Open in 1997 and 1998, was beaten by the former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, which means Rafter has made it past the second round in ATP events just twice since returning to the ATP Tour late in February.The change to damp, fast grass suited 28-year-old Krajicek even more than the brilliant-volleying Rafter, though the slick surface did cause mobility problems for the 1996 Wimbledon champion who is recovering from a knee operation.
