2nd Seed Agassi Upset by Agenor at Tokyo; 3rd Time in 3 Meetings

Ronald Agenor of Haiti continued his mastery over American Andre Agassi today, knocking the No. 2 seed out of the Seiko Super Tennis Tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 victory in 52 minutes.

“I don’t know why I couldn’t get a point,” Agassi, ranked No. 5 in the world, said of his third loss in three meetings with Agenor, ranked No. 39.

Third-seeded Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland was another upset victim, losing 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 to American qualifier Rick Leach.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden trounced Australian John Fitzgerald 6-2, 6-3, avenging his loss to Fitzgerald in this tournament’s semifinals last year.

Agenor kept Agassi on the run with accurate placements on the artificial court in the Yoyogi National Stadium. Agassi committed 39 unforced errors to Agenor’s 27.

“He played his best game against me. I have met him three times but won only 10 games,” Agassi said.

Leach, who teamed with American Jim Pugh for the Australian doubles championship in 1988 and 1989 but is ranked 340th in singles, needed two hours, 13 minutes to beat Hlasek, ranked No. 12.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Edberg is to meet Henry Leconte of France, who beat Eric Jelen of West Germany 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 today.

Canadian Grant Connell, blasting 13 aces, beat sixth-seeded Andres Gomez of Eduador 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Australian Darren Cahill defeated Dan Goldie of the United States, the No. 8 seed, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Goldie led 4-1 in the second set but Cahill took the next five games.

American Aaron Krickstein, the No. 4 seed, fought back with powerful ground strokes for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph in two hours over Australian qualifier Broderick Dyke, who led 3-1 in the final set.

The singles winner will earn $100,000 from the $627,500 purse.