Agassi Fined for Late Pullout at Monte Carlo

Andre Agassi, the missing No. 3 seed at the Monte Carlo Open, was fined $5,000 for his late withdrawal from the tournament, an official said today.

Agassi sent a telex to the organizers of the $1-million event over the weekend saying he had strained a muscle practicing.

His late pullout, after the Friday noon deadline, invoked an automatic $5,000 fine, according to David Cooper, the administrator of regulations for the APT Tour.

Agassi, ranked No. 4 in the world, would have been one of the top draws of the tournament, which features Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the second- and third-ranked players in the world.

Meanwhile, top seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden was ousted from the tournament today when Juan Aguilera of Spain beat him in a pair of tiebreakers and won the third round match 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6).

Boris Becker advanced to the quarterfinals, but not without a battle from Haiti’s Roland Agenor. Becker, seeded second, was extended to three sets before winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Becker’s quarterfinal opponent is the No. 7 seed, Emilio Sanchez of Spain, who routed Guy Forget of France 6-2, 6-2 in just 70 minutes.

In other third-round matches, Henri Leconte of France upset the No. 6 seed, Andres Gomez of Ecuador 6-3, 6-4 and Marc Rosset, a 19-year-old Swiss, downed qualifier David Engel of Switzerland, 6-0, 6-4. Rosset advanced to a quarterfinal meeting against Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union, an easy 6-2, 6-1, winner over Jaime Yzaga of Peru.

Horst Skoff of Austria and Jordi Arrese of Spain battled for nearly three hours before the Austrian won 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5.

Skoff, the No. 14 seed, goes against Leconte in the quarterfinals.