Agassi Caught in a Land of Diminishing Returns

Disparity was never more irrelevant on the opening day at the French Open than it was Monday.

There was 34-year-old Andre Agassi with more than $28 million in prize money, eight Grand Slam tournament singles titles and a legendary reputation.

His first-round opponent, little-known qualifier Jerome Haehnel, had been plying his trade at such French venues as Besancon and Aix-en-Provence.

And Haehnel hadn’t been winning those challenger-level tournaments.

None of that mattered.

The 23-year-old Haehnel recorded one of the biggest upsets in Grand Slam history, defeating the sixth-seeded Agassi, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in slightly more than two hours. It was probably Agassi’s worst loss at a Slam. Haehnel, who is ranked 271st, had never played a tour-level match, doesn’t have a coach and this year considered quitting the sport.

“I don’t know what we just saw,” said Gil Reyes, Agassi’s longtime trainer and close friend.

He could have been speaking for almost everyone. An unexpected loss by Agassi at a major usually causes a significant stir, but this was practically seismic.

“It’s disappointing,” said a stunned Agassi. “Listen, that standard is a long ways off having a decent shot at winning here. In that regard, I probably got what I deserved.”

Agassi took a calculated risk by limiting his clay-court preparation to one tournament. For him, less has often been more, paying off when he won here in 1999. But last week, Agassi lost to another qualifier, 339th-ranked Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia at St. Polten, Austria.

That defeat had a dual effect, denting Agassi’s confidence and boosting a jittery Haehnel’s. The young Frenchman admitted to a fit of nerves after drawing Agassi in the opening round. But his friends reminded him of Zimonjic.

“They told me I can win against him today because he lost two weeks ago, one week ago against a guy like me in St. Polten,” Haehnel said.

A guy like you?

“A bad player,” Haehnel said, smiling.

He was far from that, of course.

But Agassi was hardly vintage Agassi. He looked about as uncomfortable on clay as Pete Sampras once did. He was missing with his usually reliable backhand, and not just by inches, and he appeared late to the ball several times. The technology used to measure statistics malfunctioned and did not provide an accurate count of Agassi’s unforced errors, but there were plenty of them. Associated Press reported there were 39.

Haehnel was steady enough and did not lose his serve until the third set.

Whenever Agassi seemed on the verge of flipping the switch, he inexplicably stalled.

In the second-set tiebreaker, he erased a 4-2 lead, pulled even at 4-4, then dropped the final three points, two of them on backhand errors.

He mounted his last flurry in the third set. Once again, he got to the edge, erasing Haehnel’s 3-1 lead and pulling to 3-3. That was the final stand, though, as he lost the final three games, Haehnel winning on his second match point with an ace.

It landed Haehnel in the second round against wild-card Michael Llodra of France. The reality was almost a dream for Haehnel.

“Last winter, I said, ‘This year is the year I do something or I stop,’ ” he said in the French portion of his news conference. “Financially, it’s not easy if you do one match a week and you lose in the first round.”

He said a moment of doubt flickered in the third set. He admitted to thinking about his countryman, Paul-Henri Mathieu, who could not put Agassi away here in 2002. But Agassi was simply unable to sustain consistent pressure.

“All I needed to do was hit one decent shot,” Agassi said. “I wasn’t moving to the ball. Just wasn’t comfortable.”

Afterward, Agassi quickly left the court, a drastic difference from his departure at the Australian Open. After losing in Melbourne to Marat Safin in a thrilling five-set semifinal, he gave the fans something to remember, issuing his trademark bows.

He and Reyes are fully aware this may be their final trip to Paris. Reyes told reporters afterward that he was making a point of taking in the crowd and atmosphere, just in case. And Agassi attended the pre-tournament draw here, a rarity for him.

It was difficult for Agassi to evaluate his future so quickly after the shocking defeat.

“Hard to say. You want to come back, but you just don’t know,” he said of future French Opens. “I mean, I don’t know. It’s a year away. That’s a long time for me right now. Chances get less every year, for sure.”

Reyes has a hopeful outline for what remains of Agassi’s remarkable career.

“We’re down the homestretch,” he said. “All I can ask is, we don’t limp through the finish line. I want us to lean into the tape. I want us to break through the finish line. That’s all I ask.”

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Gone in a Flash

Before Monday, Andre Agassi had lost in the first round only four times (sets in parentheses) in the 51 Grand Slam events he has competed in since 1988.

*--* Year Tournament Lost to 1991 U.S. Open Aaron Krickstein (3) 1993 U.S. Open Thomas Enqvist (5) 1996 Wimbledon Doug Flach (4) 1998 French Open Marat Safin (5)

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Note: Grand Slam tournaments that Agassi has missed include two French Opens, four Wimbledons and nine Australian Opens since 1988.

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Who Knew?

The lowest-ranked players to have beaten Andre Agassi in a major tournament:

PATRICE KUCHNA

* No. 325...1987 French Open second round

DOUG FLACH

* No. 281...1996 Wimbledon first round

JEROME HAEHNEL

* No. 271...2004 French Open first round

JEREMY BATES

* No. 128...1986 U.S. Open first round

MARAT SAFIN

* No. 114...1998 French Open first round

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French Open Glance

Highlights from Day 1:

*--* * Men’s seeded winners: No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 3 Guillermo Coria, No. 5 Carlos Moya, No. 9 Tim Henman, No. 11 Nicolas Massu, No. 13 Paradorn Srichaphan, No. 17 Tommy Robredo, No. 21 Andrei Pavel, No. 22 Juan Ignacio Chela, No. 27 Vince Spadea, No. 30 Mariano Zabaleta, No. 31 Dominik Hrbaty * Men’s seeded losers: No. 6 Andre Agassi, No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 18 Mark Philippoussis * Women’s seeded winners: No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 8 Nadia Petrova, No. 9 Elena Dementieva, No. 10 Vera Zvonareva, No. 14 Paola Suarez, No. 15 Silvia Farina Elia, No. 18 Maria Sharapova, No. 19 Anna Smashnova- Pistolesi, No. 21 Magdalena Maleeva, No. 28 Lisa Raymond, No. 31 Emilie Loit, No. 32 Dinara Safina * Women’s seeded losers: No. 24 Jelena Dokic, No. 27 Eleni Daniilidou. * Statistic of the day: 39. Number of unforced errors made by Agassi -- 21 more than Jerome Haehnel, who upset the 1999 champion, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 * Quote of the day: “I probably got what I deserved.” -- Agassi

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-- Associated Press