No Dice for Agassi, Again

Blame it all on Zimbabwe. There must be something about Harare because Andre Agassi has hardly looked like himself since he was spotted getting sick on the court against Byron Black last month in the first round of the Davis Cup.

One week, one bad loss, can be viewed as an aberration, perhaps.

Double that and it suddenly starts looking like a nasty trend. This week, Agassi’s game disappeared under the glare of the hot sun, unraveling in a mess of unforced errors (57) and double faults (11).

And then he disappeared--leaving for Las Vegas--after Hicham Arazi of Morocco beat him, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, at the Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series on Monday. The top-seeded Agassi barely lasted past lunchtime on the opening day of the men’s event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Any personal insight from Agassi about his travails will have to be left for another day.

Before skipping town, he skipped the mandatory post-match news conference, tires squealing in the desert dust. He will be fined $1,000 by the men’s tour.

He did have one pointed comment for an ATP tour communications director, saying: “I’m incredibly frustrated and that was a pitiful performance.”

After his sublime Australian Open performance and gritty Davis Cup matches in 2000, it certainly has been a surprise to see the old Agassi resurface. He has won only one match since returning from Harare, beating Marcos Ondruska of South Africa last week in Scottsdale, Ariz. After that, he lost to Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-1, 6-2.

“I’m in shock,” he said that day. “I never had any feeling out there. I haven’t had a loss like that in a long time.”

Maybe it has something to do with playing tricky left-handers, something Clavet and Arazi have in common. Then again, Agassi easily handled Arazi at the Australian Open winning the quarterfinal match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

“It’s the best win since the beginning of my career,” Arazi said. “It was great to beat him after he beat me in the Australian Open. It’s good revenge.

The women’s fourth-round matches went to form, and top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland and second-seeded Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach turned in dominating performances. Hingis beat 10th-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria, 6-1, 6-1, and Davenport defeated ninth-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 6-2, 6-1. Davenport plays sixth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain today in the quarterfinals. Martinez was leading 6-0, 3-0 when Dominique Van Roost of Belgium retired with an injured right leg.

Third-seeded and defending champion Serena Williams won in straight sets for the first time in three matches, beating 16-year-old Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-4, 6-4.

One other seeded player on the men’s side was dispatched in the first round. Nicolas Escude of France, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, beat ninth-seeded Cedric Pioline, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Pioline and Agassi were both in the same quarter of the draw as No. 15 Greg Rusedski of Great Britain. Defending champion Mark Philippoussis of Australia played the night match against Chris Woodruff, winning, 6-3, 6-4.

Rusedski, who beat wild-card entry James Blake, 6-2, 6-0, in the first round, had his theory about Agassi’s loss to Clavet. Of course, this was before Agassi was ousted by Arazi.

“I think Andre just wanted to get here,” Rusedski said. “With all the bad weather they had in Scottsdale, with the temperature so cold, he would have had to play Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. If he would have won that event, there’s no bonus points, so he couldn’t have made anywhere near the amount of points as here.

“I don’t know if you should qualify that as a barometer for him. When he wants to win something, he’s been pretty impressive the last year.”

So, was he implying that tanking still exists on the men’s tour?

“I’m not saying that,” Rusedski said, smiling. “You can say whatever you like to call it.”

Rusedski lost to Pete Sampras in Scottsdale, and Sampras withdrew the next day because of an ailing back. Sampras practiced here on Sunday and said Monday that his back felt fine.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series

Featured matches for today:

Stadium Court

(Starting at 10 a.m.)

* Elena Dementieva, Russia vs. Chanda Rubin.

* Conchita Martinez, Spain vs. Lindsay Davenport.

* Marcos Ondruska, South Africa vs. Patrick Rafter, Australia.

* Lleyton Hewitt, Australia vs. Carlos Moya, Spain

*

Evening Session

(Starting at 6:30)

* Andrei Medvedev, Ukraine vs. Pete Sampras.