Agassi Makes a Big Splash for U.S.

Sunny Sicily turned distinctly swampy Friday, but the U.S. Davis Cup hopes prospered in the cold rain, riding high on the sodden racket of Andre Agassi.

No. 2 tried harder. Now it’s up to No. 1.

Playing on gooey clay and dressed like a skateboarder, Agassi, ranked No. 2 in the world, dispatched Italian Andrea Gaudenzi, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. The victory gave the heavily favored United States a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinals, which will be completed today and Sunday.

Weather caused the postponement of Friday’s second singles match between top-ranked Pete Sampras and Italian Renzo Furlan. It will be played today, followed by the doubles.

Rain riding a stiff north wind delayed the opening of the Agassi-Gaudenzi match and interrupted it after it had begun. By then, though, it was already apparent to a partisan Italian crowd that Gaudenzi, Italy’s best player and ranked No. 19, was no match for Agassi.

The court was heavy, the ball seemed heavy, and he had to think a lot about his footwork, said Agassi, who had not played on clay since losing in the French Open at Paris last June.

Still, playing five days after his weekend victory in Florida over teammate/rival Sampras, the confident and aggressive American quickly established control, winning the respect of a chilled crowd of 5,100.

“The conditions favored me, but we could have played in sand, in mud, on grass--or in the Colosseum--he’s always a better player,” Gaudenzi said.

Agassi kept the 21-year-old Italian off-balance, pinned deep behind the baseline with powerful ground strokes and an occasional deftly hit drop shot.

“He was one meter inside the court, and I was one meter out,” Gaudenzi said. “I tried to stay away from his forehand and hit it higher when he sent me deep, but I ended up running twice as far as he did. Maybe I could have earned a set or a few more games, but it wouldn’t have changed much. Tactics are useless when Agassi is holding the other racket. I am not yet at his level.”

Agassi, 24, returned to the Davis Cup for the first time since being fined for refusing to play a meaningless reverse singles match against the Bahamas in 1993. For Friday’s occasion, he appeared with his earrings framed by a black bandanna, wearing a baggy striped shirt, bruise-colored shorts and short black sox above black sneakers with blue laces.

“Tell kids they shouldn’t try to be like me. I think it’s crazy, the way I dress,” Agassi told adoring Italian reporters after the match.

After a continental shift, jet lag and three days of practice on clay, “It turned out a little better than I thought,” Agassi said. “It feels good to have gotten through in three sets.”

Clay, he said, demands a different mind set than grass: “You have to wait two or three, even five or six shots before you end the point.

“In the first two sets, I broke (Gaudenzi’s service) to go up 5-3; then he broke back to make it 5-4,” Agassi said. “If he holds his service, gets his momentum, gets the crowd behind him, it could have been different. We still could be playing.”

Sampras will play Furlan, ranked 67th, this morning. After lunch, Americans Jared Palmer and Richey Reneberg, ranked first in the world, will play Stefano Pescosolido and Cristian Brandi in doubles.

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Davis Cup Notes

Four other quarterfinals began Friday. Defending champion Sweden took a 2-0 lead over Austria, while the Netherlands-Germany, Russia-South Africa and Venezuela-Argentina matches were tied, 1-1. At Vaxjo, Sweden, Magnus Larsson of Sweden overpowered Thomas Muster, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, and former No. 1 Stefan Edberg turned back Alex Antonitsch, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. At Utrecht, the Netherlands, Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands scored a surprising 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Boris Becker, the third-ranked player, but Michael Stich of Germany defeated Richard Krajicek, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. At Moscow, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia beat Marcos Ondruska, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, but South Africa’s Wayne Ferriera outlasted Alexander Volkov, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4. And in Caracas, Venezuela, Nicolas Pereira defeated Federico Browne, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, and Javier Frana beat Maurice Ruah, 6-3, 7-6, (7-4), 3-6, 6-3.