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Journalism of Courage
MIAMI, MARCH 26: Former World No 1 Pete Sampras recaptured the spirit of last year while Andre Agassi recaptured the spirit of last month here on Saturday in second-round victories at the Ericsson Open.
Sampras, who has struggled amid various injuries early this season, bounced back from a quarter-final defeat at Indian wells, California, last week with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over former World No 1 Carlos Moya of Spain.
Agassi, the current World No 1 and winner of three of the last four Grand Slam titles, shrugged off back-to-back defeats at Scottsdale, Arizona, and Indian Wells with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Australian Open junior champion Andy Roddick of the United States.
Sampras, who won this event in 1993-94, disposed of Moya in 52 minutes. He never faced a breakpoint and won 81 percent (31-of-38) of points on his first serve.
“Things clicked today,” said Sampras, who captured his 12th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year but was forced out of the US Open by a back injury last fall and fell to Agassi at the Australian Open in January.
Agassi gave 17-year-old Roddick, tabbed as a practice partner for the US Davis Cup team in their upcoming tie with Czech Republic, a tennis lesson, halting his two-match skid with a win in just 65 minutes.
Sampras’ and Agassi’s compatriot Lindsay Davenport, whose dominance has not faltered all year, posted her 17th match victory in a row with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.
Davenport, the second seed, is aiming to overtake Switzerland’s Martina Hingis at the top of the standings this week. She needed only 55 minutes to improve her 2000 win-loss record to 20-1.
Her fifth-seeded compatriot, Serena Williams, also advanced with ease, 6-4, 6-2 over Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva.
Mary Pierce of France was forced to retire in her match with Russia’s Elena Dementieva due to food poisoning. Dementieva, a semi-finalist at Indian Wells alongwith Pierce, was leading, 6-3, 2-1. Eighth seed Julie Halard-Decugis of France also failed to reach the third round as Russia’s Nadejda Petrova recorded a 6-2, 6-3 upset.
In other men’s matches, fourth seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany suffered his fourth straight loss as Richard Fromberg of Australia eliminated the German, 6-4, 6-4.
Also, sixth seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil held off Arnaud Clement of france, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, the seventh seed, rallied past 1991 champion Jim Courier, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4, and eighth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile earned his first win in seven meetings with American Michael Chang 6-4, 6-4.
Alex Corretja, seeded 12th after his triumph at Indian Wells, couldn’t keep the momentum going. Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic surprised the Spaniard, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1.
