TENNIS INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Agassi Avenges Defeat by Beating Edberg in Four Sets

Andre Agassi was willing to play all day if necessary to beat Stefan Edberg.

It didn’t take nearly that long as Agassi turned their rematch into a mismatch, 6-1, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, in the final of the $2.55-million International Players Championships Sunday.

The two-hour victory avenged Agassi’s four-set loss to Edberg in the final of the Champions Cup at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

“Today I didn’t want to force the points as much as I did at Indian Wells,” the fifth-seeded Agassi said. “I just wanted to keep it in play and move him around a lot and either wait for the mistake or wait for him to come in so I could pass him.”

Edberg obliged. The normally steady Swede made 72 unforced errors, and when he went to the net Agassi won almost half the points--43 of 91.

“Andre played quite well,” said the third-seeded Edberg, who had a 10-match winning streak snapped. “I felt I was a little bit slow, one step behind. Obviously I didn’t play as well as in Indian Wells.”

The bright spot for Edberg was the third set, which he won in 27 minutes.

“He got off to a good start there,” Agassi said, “and I got a little lackadaisical. In the heat it’s hard to keep up that level of tennis for three sets.”

The American regained control in the final set with help from Edberg, who double-faulted to lose the third and fifth games and fell behind, 5-1.

“It was sort of a very strange match,” Edberg said. “But I don’t think this will be the last final I’ll be playing this year.”

Agassi, the first American to win the tournament since Tim Mayotte in 1985, earned $179,000 and improved his record this year to 16-2.

He reached the final by beating three players ranked in the top 20--Jay Berger, Andres Gomez and Jim Courier.

The title was the 10th of Agassi’s career and his second in 1990. The 19-year-old also won an indoor tournament in San Francisco in February.

“I think I’m playing much better this year than I’ve ever played,” said Agassi, who won six tournaments in 1988 but only one last year.