It Gets Ugly Again for the Americans With Early Ousters

Let’s face it, this has been one long miserable stretch for American men in Europe.

Clay made the male tennis players disappear at the French Open after three rounds. The soccer team went up in flames, self-destructing in cities large and small throughout France.

But France wasn’t the problem.

If anyone thought England might be a solution, consider this: Two rounds aren’t complete at Wimbledon, and only two American men are still around on the grass of the All England Club: top-seeded Pete Sampras and Todd Martin.

Andre Agassi, the 13th-seeded player, was supposed to keep them company for a couple more rounds. He exited Thursday in a little more than half an hour, finishing a postponed match and losing, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, to rising German star Tommy Haas in the second round.

When darkness fell Wednesday, Agassi trailed, two sets to one, and left the grounds, angry over a botched line call in the third-set tiebreaker. Thursday, he broke Haas in the opening game of the fourth set but could not sustain the momentum and lost five of the final six games.

“Quite honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved to win it,” Agassi said. “I didn’t do what I needed to do. Three of the four sets were completely in my hands.”

Because Agassi is a former Wimbledon champion, he was the most visible second-round casualty. Three other Americans also lost: Michael Chang, Vincent Spadea and Jan-Michael Gambill.

Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden defeated Chang, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2; Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated Spadea, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3, and Byron Black of Zimbabwe defeated Gambill, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. Martin defeated qualifier Mark Draper of Australia, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Another high-profile player was dispatched when French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain lost to Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. But even fifth-seeded Moya did not give himself a decent chance here, saying he would treat it as a learning experience.

A rain delay hurt Moya’s momentum as he was up a set and a service break in the second.

“That [rain] break killed me,” Moya said. “I was a little bit down. Maybe I didn’t warm up well.”

Centre Court was a tough place for the seeded men. Agassi followed Moya and stayed 35 minutes. If Haas, 20, was at all intimidated by playing his one-time idol, he didn’t show it. Haas was so loose, he whacked a ball at a couple of stray pigeons on Centre Court, chasing them away a few minutes before he chased Agassi.

Haas won the next three points and held serve to go up, 5-4. On game point, Agassi made a rookie mistake by letting a passing shot fly past him, instead of playing it. And the shot landed in.

The win was important for Haas, who used to watch Agassi train at Nick Bollettieri’s training center and even hit with him as a youngster. “It is a very special win for me because he won Wimbledon in 1992 and I can say I beat the former No. 1 who has won a couple of Grand Slams,” said Haas, still coached by Bollettieri. “Especially here on the stadium, which is a very special court. I didn’t expect it to be so special.”

And now, Agassi is left with the stalled comeback in desperate need of a jump start. Though he missed time because of a shoulder injury suffered in a first-round loss at the French Open, he looked slow and lacked consistency.

“In all honesty, it even took Michael Jordan a year to where he was playing his best again,” Agassi said. “I have to give myself a year.”

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Today’s Featured Matches

MEN

* Pete Sampras (1), Tampa, Fla., vs. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden

* Petr Korda (3), Czech Republic, vs. Jerome Golmard, France

* Magnus Gustafsson, Sweden, vs. Patrick Rafter (6), Australia

* Tim Henman (12), Britain, vs. Byron Black, Zimbabwe

* Goran Ivanisevic (14), Croatia, vs. Andrei Medvedev, Ukraine (suspended match)

* Sebastien Grosjean, France, vs. Felix Mantilla (16), Spain

* John van Lottum, Netherlands, vs. Tommy Haas, Germany

WOMEN

* Natasha Zvereva, Belarus, vs. Steffi Graf (4), Germany

* Magdalena Grzybowska, Poland, vs. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (5), Spain (suspended match)

* Monica Seles (6), Sarasota, Fla., vs. Yayuk Basuki, Indonesia

* Conchita Martinez (8), Spain, vs. Samantha Smith, Britain

* Lori McNeil, Houston, vs. Sandrine Testud (14), France

* Julie Halard-Decugis, France, vs. Nathalie Tauziat (16), France

* Maria Alejandra Vento, Venezuela, vs. Lindsay Davenport (2), Newport Beach