TENNIS ROUNDUP : Agassi Works Hard, Then Beats Pearce

Andre Agassi, playing for the first time since his loss in the French Open final, struggled through a first-set tiebreaker before defeating Brad Pearce, 7-6, 6-3, Wednesday in the second round of a $415,000 tournament at Washington.

Agassi, ranked fourth in the world, trailed, 4-2, in the first set and faced a set point in the tiebreaker before winning it, 9-7. Pearce kept up the pressure in the second set before he netted two volleys that gave Agassi the break in the sixth game.

“Anytime you take off a few weeks, it always takes a little bit before you’re playing your best tennis,” said Agassi, who lost to Andres Gomez in the French Open final in May.

“I didn’t want to do more than what I needed to today, not to take any credit away from Brad.”

Michael Chang also moved into third round of the tournament, the first in the United States hardcourt season before the U.S. Open, with a 6-2, 7-6 victory over Steve Bryan, playing in his first professional tournament after winning the NCAA singles championship at Texas.

And Derrick Rostagno set up a rematch with John McEnroe, whom he beat in the first round at Wimbledon, by upsetting Gary Muller of South Africa, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Rostagno will meet McEnroe in the third round.

Gretchen Magers easily advanced to the quarterfinals of a $225,000 tournament at Newport, R.I., with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over New Zealand’s Julie Richardson.

Magers, ranked 28th in the world, dominated Richardson, breaking her serve on five of seven opportunities and winning 60 of the 94 points played.

Magers will meet Australia’s Louise Field, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Erika de Lone.

In other matches, Anne Smith beat Hu Na, 6-0, 6-3, and England’s Jo Durie defeated Andrea Leand, 7-6, (7-5), 6-0.

West Germany’s Isabel Cueto, the top seeded player, came back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set to beat Eva Sviglerova of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 6-1, in the third round of a $100,000 tournament at Estoril, Portugal.