Total Openness in men146;s section

Andre Agassi was trading practice shots with Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 32-degree celsius heat under a midday sun.Along the edges of the court an...

Andre Agassi was trading practice shots with Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 32-degree celsius heat under a midday sun.

Along the edges of the court and in parts of the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium, workers were hammering and drilling, putting up signs and setting up electronic equipment. Agassi8217;s game long ago ceased being that sort of work-in-progress. 8220;I8217;m just trying to get better as an all-around athlete at this point,8217;8217; he says. 8220;At 32, I8217;m not going to make real changes, although you8217;re always tweaking.8217;8217; When the us open starts tomorrow, the sixth-seeded Agassi will be among a group of contenders aiming to take the title from defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

In women8217;s tennis, discussion of challengers for the year8217;s last Grand Slam title pretty much begins with one name: Williams. Not so with the men. 8220;It looks like there8217;s a bunch of guys who could come out of the woodwork,8221; television analyst John McEnroe says. 8220;There8217;s total openness in men8217;s tennis now.8217;8217;

Indeed, when the top-ranked Hewitt won Wimbledon in July, he ended a stretch in which eight men had won the preceding eight Major championships. Unheralded players such as Albert Costa and Thomas Johansson who withdrew from the US Open with a shoulder injury emerged to add 8220;Grand Slam champion8221; to their resumes. It8217;s awfully tough to handicap the open, with Hewitt, two-time winner Agassi, 2001 semifinalist Kafelnikov, 2000 champion Marat Safin, No.3 Tommy Haas and No.11 Andy Roddick all boasting games that could take them to the title. And then, of course, there8217;s Pete Sampras. He8217;s struggled through a disappointing year with a 20-16 match record and early exits from Grand Slam tournaments. Sampras keeps changing coaches, has talked about switching to a different kind of racket, and has generally seemed more out of sorts on court than ever before.

8220;He8217;s obviously playing with as little confidence as he8217;s had probably his whole career,8221; says McEnroe, who won seven Major singles titles, including four at the Open. 8220;I still don8217;t believe that he8217;s ready to throw in the towel. He could still do something.8221;