Agassi Is Up to a Tall Order

Safe and (relatively) sound in the interview room, sheltered from Ivo Karlovic’s serve, Andre Agassi apparently felt secure enough to share some insight.

“If was coaching him, I’d fine him $100 every time he hit a ground stroke,” Agassi said of Karlovic. “I would. He’d play like Paul Annacone. Stick your racket out and come forward.”

Hold off, though, on the thought of Agassi sitting in the friends’ box with Karlovic’s buddies. With his back problems in check, at least for the moment, he was up to Thursday’s sizable challenge at the U.S. Open.

The seventh-seeded Agassi, 35, faced down the unusual trajectory of the serve coming from the 6-foot-10 Karlovic’s racket, surviving the Croatian’s 30-ace performance and winning in the second round, 7-6, (4), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), in 2 hours 30 minutes. Agassi even drew some applause from his wife, tennis legend Steffi Graf, and their young son, Jaden Gil.

It was Agassi’s 73rd singles match victory at the Open, moving into a second-place tie with Ivan Lendl, behind only Jimmy Connors, who won 98. He will play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the third round.

“It’s an incredible serve,” Agassi said of Karlovic’s offering. “I’m trying to figure out where I would have to stand on the court to have the same trajectory. It’s not a function of how fast it is because a lot of guys can serve it 135 [mph]-plus.

“The trajectory is the main issue because you’re lunging, but then it’s up. You’re sort of diving, but then you can’t reach it, even if you dive perfectly and on cue.”

Agassi-Karlovic was one of two highly anticipated men’s matches. The other was Gilles Muller of Luxembourg vs. Robby Ginepri, and it fell flat, Ginepri winning, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.

Muller showed none of the flair and shot-making ability he displayed in his first-round upset of Andy Roddick and Ginepri was his usual steady self, committing only eight unforced errors. Apparently, Muller had problems handling his moment in the spotlight after upsetting Roddick.

“I woke up already this morning and I was feeling pretty tired,” Muller said. “Then I think it was too much for me.... It wasn’t the tennis. I think it was something in the head. Yesterday, I didn’t have so much time to rest, and I got so many phone calls.”

On the women’s side, the matches remained woefully one-sided. Of the first 12 second-round matches completed Thursday, all finished in straight sets, including second-seeded Lindsay Davenport’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over qualifier Pauline Parmentier of France. Only one set in the 12 matches went to a tiebreaker.

Finally, match No. 13 went three sets with Anna-Lena Groenfeld of Germany defeating Virginie Razzano of France, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

It was a rough second round for two Southern California teenagers, Alexa Glatch, a 15-year-old wild-card entry from Newport Beach, and qualifier Vania King, 16, of Long Beach. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro beat Glatch, 6-2, 6-0, on an outside court, and No. 15 Nathalie Dechy of France defeated King, 6-1, 6-1, on Armstrong Stadium Court.

King said she was intimidated on the big court and wanted to give the crowd a good show, making her more nervous. Still, she felt positive about the Open learning experience.

“I think I can play against them,” she said. “I’m not saying I would have won. But I feel I could have made it closer. I don’t think that she was leagues ahead of me. I never thought I could play against these girls. I always thought it was a dream and not reality.”

Glatch said Jankovic was deceptively quick.

“Not only did she get them, she hit it about two inches inside the baseline,” Glatch said. “... Today was tough. It was windy out there. I don’t think I played my best tennis. I made a lot of errors.”

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Several doubles players, including twins Bob and Mike Bryan of Camarillo, sued the ATP in federal court in Texas. The suit charges that “the ATP’s efforts to purportedly ‘enhance’ doubles is in fact a concerted effort by tournament directors to run the best doubles players out of the game.”

After the U.S. Open, the ATP has instituted several controversial changes in doubles, including no-ad scoring and the shortening of sets -- first to five games, rather than six, with a tiebreaker at 4-4.

The ATP had no comment on the lawsuit.

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Various tennis organizations have promised financial support for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The United States Tennis Assn. will donate $500,000 from U.S. Open proceeds to the Red Cross and make public service announcements in Arthur Ashe Stadium and the National Tennis Center.

The WTA Tour and ATP pledged to donate autographed tennis equipment to be auctioned on Sept. 11.

Agassi said he would get involved too.

“This is going to be an ongoing effort,” he said. “You look at the tsunami that hit and you think, ‘Geez, how long does that stay in the news?’ Is it how long people care about it? But those lives are still affected.... We need to stay for the long haul.”

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At a glance

Highlights from Thursday at the U.S. Open:

* Top men’s seeded winners: No. 7 Andre Agassi, No. 8 Guillermo Coria, No. 18 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 19 Tommy Robredo.

* Men’s seeded losers: No. 10 Mariano Puerta, No. 14 Thomas Johansson, No. 26 Feliciano Lopez.

* Top women’s seeded winners: No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, No. 6 Elena Dementieva, No. 7 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 11 Patty Schnyder, No. 12 Mary Pierce, No. 13 Anastasia Myskina, No. 15 Nathalie Dechy.

* Women’s seeded loser: No. 27 Gisela Dulko.

TODAY’S FEATURED MATCHES

* Day session: Nicolas Almagro, Spain, vs. Taylor Dent (25); Maria Sharapova (1), Russia, vs. Julia Schruff, Germany; Francesca Schiavone (25), Italy, vs. Serena Williams (8); Lleyton Hewitt (3), Australia, vs. Jose Acasuso, Argentina; Nadia Petrova (9), Russia, vs. Laura Granville.

* Night session: Venus Williams (10) vs. Daniela Hantuchova (20), Slovakia; Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Fabrice Santoro, France.