Top-Seeded Haas Gets Run Out by Qualifier

Alex Bogomolov Jr., a 19-year-old qualifier from Miami, upset top-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-4, 6-4, in a late-night first-round match of the Mercedes-Benz Cup on Tuesday night at Los Angeles Tennis Center.

“I’m feeling incredible,” Bogomolov said. “I’ve been waiting for this a long time, my whole life. It hasn’t kicked in yet. I’m going to dream about it tonight and wake up and tomorrow hope it’s real.”

Bogomolov, ranked No. 278 in the world, broke Haas, ranked third, in the first and ninth games of the first set and the third and fifth games of the second set to pull off the victory.

Haas was playing his first tournament since losing in the fourth round of the French Open.

In the interim, his parents were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident June 8, and Haas took time off to be with them.

“When you haven’t competed in a while, you get a little rusty,” Haas said. “I obviously gotta get back into it, get my mind back into it, but I don’t really think it was anything mentally on the court.

“I feel like my parents are in good hands now, and I feel like I can get back to my thing, but it’s going to take a couple of weeks.”

At least one match followed form.

The fearsome topspin forehands, two-fisted backhand brilliance from the baseline and devastating determination were all there, unleashed on Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark with predictable results. No. 2-seeded Andre Agassi rolled over Carlsen, 6-3, 6-1, in a first-round match.

Agassi, the tournament winner last year and in 1998, broke Carlsen in the eighth game of the first set and gained momentum from there, taking command in the second set.

Carlsen won the first game, but Agassi took the last five in a row to begin his quest to become the first player to win the tournament twice in a row since Richard Krajicek in 1992 and ’93.

That just might help take the sting out of a year that Agassi said has been disappointing.

A seven-time Grand Slam winner, he did not play the Australian Open because of a wrist injury and lost in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the second round at Wimbledon.

His lone tournament title was in a clay-court event in Rome, and before Tuesday, he hadn’t played since Wimbledon.

“I wasn’t going out expecting to play very well. I just tried to have a good work ethic tonight,” he said. “I need to get out there and get to work. It’s a great challenge at this particular moment. This can still be a great year, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”

Carlsen, ranked 107th in the world, actually made Agassi, ranked seventh, work in the first set, showing impressive depth and variety on his shots as he attempted to move Agassi back and forth and off the baseline.

“I felt like there was some good versatility, and I got a look at a lot of different kinds of shots,” Agassi said.

Carlsen broke in the third game of the first set for a 2-1 edge, but Agassi broke back the next game, and called the shots thereafter.

In other first-round matches:

George Bastl of Switzerland, who upset Pete Sampras in the second round at Wimbledon, could not get past a healthy Gustavo Kuerten.

Kuerten won, 7-5, 7-6 (7), in his first hard-court match since a first-round loss to Julien Boutter of France at the Australian Open.

“I feel well. I felt efficient,” Kuerten said. “I wish I could play more matches to get the competition feeling. There’s an energy by competition that you only get by playing.”

Kuerten entered the tournament gingerly after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right hip Feb. 26.

The three-time French Open champion, seeded fifth in this tournament, has played sparingly this year and his best showing on any surface has been in the quarterfinals of clay events at Mallorca, Spain, and Hamburg, Germany.

“It was nice. I like this tournament,” he said. “I feel much, much better. I feel comfortable. I have a little more confidence in my game and my body.”

No. 3 Sebastien Grosjean soundly beat American qualifier Jack Brasington, 6-1, 6-2, after recovering from a strained left thigh.