Agassi Again Waylaid in Comeback

Andre Agassi has set for himself a humbling road, a path he’s determined to take no matter how many tennis pipsqueaks and tour rookies leap around the court after defeating him.

How difficult it must be to swallow losses to players who would have done well to take a set off him scarcely two years ago. It’s Agassi’s brutal reality now, these strings of losses. Playing only his second match in three months, Agassi repeated a numbing pattern Tuesday night and lost in the first round of the Infiniti Open.

Former UCLA standout Justin Gimelstob, looking comfortable on his home courts at the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA, defeated the seventh-seeded Agassi, 7-5, 6-2.

Agassi, ranked No. 32, continues to plod back onto the ATP Tour after injuries have ravaged his season. He has a 6-8 record, and weekly finds it more difficult to recite the mantra he must cling to: This is the only way back.

“It’s been frustrating, certainly,” Agassi, 27, said. “I’m committed to this road now. I’m going to do it, but there’s no joy in losing.”

Injuries aside, it’s Agassi’s personal and professional pride that is bruised by the steady diet of punishing losses. Supreme confidence was the propellant for Agassi’s high-risk, flashy game, a game that is ever more careful and considered as fear creeps in.

A professional athlete without confidence is as vulnerable as a wounded animal on an African plain. Other players sense it, are emboldened and pounce, as did the 103rd-ranked Gimelstob on Tuesday night.

“That’s lost,” Agassi said of his confidence. “There’s not much more to lose there. It’s going to be a grind. . . . It doesn’t get any easier week after week. I’m not going to allow this to set me back. I refuse to.”

Agassi is caught in tennis’ eternal bind: You don’t get match tough unless you play matches. Losing in the first round means another few days of vacant practice and finding a wild card into a tournament the next week.

Agassi didn’t start his season until February, when he recorded his best result, reaching the semifinals at San Jose. Only once has he played two matches in a tournament--at Atlanta at the end of April, where he re-injured his right wrist.

The wrist injury gouged out 2 1/2 precious months, and his slow recovery has kept him from entering a Grand Slam tournament this year.

Last week at Washington was Agassi’s first tournament since May.

There, Agassi lost his first match to Doug Flach, wilting in the heat and humidity.

Playing at night took heat out of the equation Tuesday and it was Gimelstob who was sweating profusely during the 1-hour 27-minute match.

The sold-out stadium was raucous and unruly at times, as was play on the court. Agassi was up a break in the first set, then Gimelstob reeled off three games. The final break came in the last game when Gimelstob, 20, capitalized on his fifth set point.

Agassi looked sharp and even made some brilliant shots in the second set, but clearly he hasn’t regained his ability to win under difficult circumstances.

The crowd, which Gimelstob joked contained nearly everyone he met during his two years at UCLA, was vocally supportive of Agassi, whose personality has been missed by tennis fans.

Agassi hasn’t played here since 1994 but took a wild-card entry after being bounced out of the Washington tournament. After Tuesday’s loss, he’ll start that depressing process again.

Matters are such that Agassi said he’d be encouraged by losing close matches.

He’s still staying the course. Still hoping, but dismayed by what he sees.

“It’s hard to say I’m encouraged by this,” Agassi said. “That would be a stretch.”

Tennis Notes

The tournament’s first seeded player lost Tuesday. Sargis Sargsian defeated eighth-seeded Alex O’Brien, 6-4, 6-3. In other day matches, third-seeded Mark Philippoussis defeated Roberto Jabali, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0); fourth-seeded Richard Krajicek defeated Marcos Ondruska, 6-4, 6-4; and sixth-seeded Jim Courier defeated Grant Stafford, 7-5, 7-5. In another night match, top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic defeated Neville Godwin, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

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Infiniti Open

FEATURED MATCHES

Beginning Noon

* No. 5 Patrick Rafter vs. Guillaume Raoux

* No. 2 Thomas Enqvist vs. Vincent Spadea

Beginning 7:30 p.m.

* Sandon Stolle vs. No. 3 Mark Philippoussis