TENNIS : Agassi Pulls Reversal on Sampras

Since losing the U.S. Open final to Pete Sampras in September, Andre Agassi has been working on his serve.

It paid off Tuesday when Agassi fired 10 aces and defeated Sampras, 6-4, 6-2, at Frankfurt, Germany, on the opening day of the ATP World Championships--the season-ending finals involving the top eight players in the world.

“I was not really out to prove I can beat Pete. I was more out to prove that the U.S. Open was just a day out in New York,” Agassi said after finishing off Sampras in just more than an hour.

In other matches, Stefan Edberg of Sweden, No. 1 player in the world, overcame a sluggish start and beat Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-1, and No. 3 Ivan Lendl served seven aces en route to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Thomas Muster of Austria.

Sampras beat Agassi in three sets in the U.S. Open final, becoming at 19 the youngest winner in the history of the tournament. Agassi obviously has not forgotten the setback.

“After the U.S. Open, I realized what a tremendous asset the serve can be,” Agassi said. “If you can serve that big, you don’t need a lot of other things to win matches.

Sampras said Agassi served “as well as he’s ever served.

“His serve was the key. It was a complete opposite of the U.S. Open. He played flawless tennis.”