Agassi’s Victory Could Make for Good TV Later

The U.S. Tennis Assn. and CBS network officials were breathing a bit more easily here Monday night, after Andre Agassi breezed past his first opponent in the opening night session of the U.S. Open.

Agassi beat Colombian Mauricio Hadad, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that had all the drama of a Brooke Shields’ movie.

Which was just the way the people who run this tournament, the USTA, and the people who really run this tournament, CBS, want it. That’s why, speculation has it, Agassi was bumped up a couple of notches from his ranking (No. 8) to his seeding (No. 6). And when the draw was finished, presto: There was a ratings-grabber Agassi-Michael Chang semifinal and an even-bigger ratings-grabber Agassi-Pete Sampras final looming for the second weekend of prime-time tennis and prime-time commercials.

On the women’s side of the draw, unseeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, ranked No. 17, posted the biggest upset of the day, taking out No. 5-ranked and No. 6-seeded Anke Huber of Germany, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.

“This was a tough draw,” Coetzer said. “You know, I just looked at it as not a first-round match, just a great challenge for me.”

Among the other winners were an ailing MaliVai Washington and a red-hot Alex O’Brien.

Washington, battling a sour stomach as hard as he was a big-serving Moroccan named Karim Alami, got through to the next round with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory on Stadium Court. “Toward the end of the match,” Washington said, “my stomach felt like week-old sushi.”

O’Brien, winning for the 22nd time in 26 matches since the last week in July, when he was ranked No. 285 in the world, beat newcomer Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. That meant that O’Brien not only would gather more points toward improving a ranking that has come all the way up to No. 65, but that he is enjoying sudden celebrity.

“[Prior to this run] I don’t think anyone could have picked me out of a one-man lineup,” he said.

U.S. Open Notes

Three more players, all Americans, withdrew with injuries Monday. Jim Courier, winner of four Grand Slams titles in his career but none here, dropped out because of a bruised knee. Mats Wilander, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, the last the 1988 U.S. Open, suffered a groin injury. Mary Joe Fernandez, seeded ninth here, suffered a wrist injury. . . . Attendance for the first day was 21,185 for the day session and 19,827 at night. . . . Tuesday’s featured match will not focus on a seeded player, or one even ranked among the world’s best. It will feature Sweden’s Stefan Edberg playing in his last Grand Slam tournament after a career that includes six Grand Slam titles, the last the 1992 U.S. Open. It may very well be Edberg’s last Grand Slam match. He will play Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, seeded No. 5 and this year’s Wimbledon champion.