TENNIS ROUNDUP : Petchey Defeated by Agassi

Andre Agassi, still trying to rebound from a dismal year that included wrist surgery and a breakup with his coach, defeated Britain’s Mark Petchey, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in his opening match at the Lipton Championships on Saturday at Key Biscayne, Fla.

“It was really a nightmare year for me,” Agassi said.

He skipped the Australian Open in January while recuperating from surgery, won at Scottsdale, Ariz., last month and then was eliminated in the second round at Indian Wells.

“My game is coming along at an incredible pace right now,” Agassi said. “I feel great about where I am. There’s no question in my mind that I’m going to get better and better every match I play.”

No. 2 Stefan Edberg, No. 3 Sergi Brugera, No. 5 Goran Ivanisevic and No. 6 Michael Chang also won their opening matches.

MaliVai Washington, a finalist last year, was eliminated by Jared Palmer, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

Advancing in women’s play were top-seeded Steffi Graf, No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini.

Sixth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez withdrew before her match because of illness. No. 11 Helena Sukova lost, 6-3, 6-4, to Radka Zrubakova of Slovakia, ranked 142nd in the world.

Agassi will next play Boris Becker, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 winner over Nicklas Kulti of Sweden. Becker is coached by Nick Bollettieri, who ended a longtime relationship with Agassi last summer.

“It’ll be weird seeing Nick in another box. In some ways, it’ll feel good,” said Agassi, ranked 31st in the world. “I lost a lot of respect for him, and it’s going to take time for me to get over that.”

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Lars Rehmann of Germany and Sweden’s Magnus Larsson advanced to the final of the Zaragoza Open in Spain. Larsson, seeded fourth, defeated countryman Anders Jarryd, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, and the unseeded Rehmann, ranked No. 310 in the world, defeated Tomas Nydahl of Sweden, 7-5, 6-4.