Agassi Remains True to Form

Andre Agassi, using a couple of well-timed drop shots, survived a first-set scare from a little-known Frenchman Thursday night and prevented the Mercedes-Benz Cup from becoming an afterthought.

Top-seeded Agassi fought off hard-hitting Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 6,872 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA and became one of only two seeded players to advance to the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan lost, 7-5, 7-4, to Jeff Morrison, and fifth-seeded Sjeng Schalken lost, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 7-5, to Wesley Moodie, adding their names to a list of four seeded players who lost in the first round.

“I think everybody goes out on the court and expects difficulties,” Agassi said. “There’s not a match you can take for granted. You just hope you’re one of the fortunate ones.”

The tournament already lost several recognizable names because of pre-tournament withdrawals and certainly would have lost some luster with an Agassi loss. Mardy Fish, seeded third, is the only other seeded player left.

Agassi, a three-time winner of the Mercedes-Benz Cup, has advanced to the quarterfinals in eight of his nine appearances at the tournament.

The decidedly pro-Agassi crowd, the first sellout of the week, made no secret about its allegiance to one of the most popular players of this generation.

“I’ve definitely had the privilege of having a lot of support in a lot of places,” Agassi said. “But I’m very familiar with these courts and it is an extra special feeling, no question.”

Benneteau played shot-for-shot with Agassi during the first set of a battle of baseline bashers. He used an aggressive, free-swinging approach and found the lines and the corners, but in the second set those shots missed.

Agassi hit two perfect drop shots in the first game of the second set to get Benneteau thinking and the strategy worked. Agassi broke in that game and took control of the match.

“It was a big change,” Benneteau said of the drop shots. “I did not expect that.”

Agassi will play Tommy Haas, who missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery, but had little trouble in a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Kenneth Carlsen.

Srichaphan, ranked No. 23 in the world, was steamrolled by a powerful Morrison serve that produced 18 aces. Srichaphan had only one break point opportunity in the match and Morrison saved it with an ace.

“He played great today, especially his service game,” Srichaphan said. “When he had trouble he just got away with it because of his serve.”

Morrison, ranked No. 117 in the world, advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive week and should crack the top 100. He said the upsets this week demonstrate that rankings lose relevance on the court.

“I think that there are some really, really good tennis players that aren’t household names, but can knock off top-ranked players on certain days,” he said. “No matter whether you’re ranked No. 1 or 100, you know that going out that you’ve got a chance and that the other guy has got a chance.”

Morrison will play Moodie in the quarterfinals. Moodie, ranked No. 133 in the world, upset No. 25 Schalken, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon the past three years and a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2002.

“I’m very happy with the win, but these type of players are players I’d like to beat on a more regular basis,” Moodie said. “I’ve had a couple of close losses this year a couple of matches haven’t gone my way.”

Schalken said his footwork was slow during the match, but did not blame the heat even though the match began at noon and lasted more than two hours.

“It was hot, but my game was not so hot,” he said.

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At a Glance

* What: Mercedes-Benz Cup.

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center/UCLA.

* TV: ESPN2 (2 p.m.); Tennis Channel (4, 7:30, 9:30 p.m.).

* Tickets: (310) 825-2101.

* Today’s featured matches: No. 3 Mardy Fish vs. Cyril Saulnier (2 p.m.); Greg Rusedski vs. Nicolas Kiefer (4 p.m.); No. 1 Andre Agassi vs. Tommy Haas (7:30 p.m.).