Agassi wins Battle of Ages
ROME: Andre Agassi and Tim Henman joined top seed Andy Roddick in the last 16 of the Rome Masters after trouble-free second round victories yesterday.
British fourth seed Henman beat Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-2, while sixth seed Agassi, a winner here in 2002, defeated French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-3.
Roddick was the first to reach round three after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Spanish veteran Albert Costa.
Agassi, winner of eight Grand Slam titles, admitted to being curious about Gasquet after the 18-year-old ended world number one Roger Federer's 25-match winning run in Monte Carlo last month.
“I watched that match and saw that he was incredibly talented, especially on his backhand,” said the shaven-headed American, who had never before faced an opponent 17 years younger than him.
“There's always a curiosity there ? how your own game will match theirs and I expected him to be dangerous.
“It's important to have that respect for your opponent, it helps to keep me motivated and focused.
“But I think he was a bit nervous. He started with a lot of unforced errors.”
Henman, a semi-finalist at last year's French Open, will face Dominik Hrbaty in the next round, while Roddick, a semi-finalist on his debut here in 2002, will play Fernando Verdasco.
Roddick said Costa was an awkward opponent.
“He's been one of the best clay court players around for the past 10 years and he has won the French Open,” said the 22-year-old, a runner-up at Wimbledon last year.
“That victory will do a lot for my confidence. I felt good, served well and put pressure on his serve.”
Asked how he felt about meeting Verdasco, who knocked out Russian 14th seed Nikolay Davydenko in round one, Roddick replied: “He's good – he hits the ball hard and I will have to play a lot better than I did today to beat him.”
Guillermo Coria, runner-up at the French Open last year and a losing finalist in Monte Carlo last month, showed no mercy to Nicolas Kiefer, beating the German 6-1, 6-1.
In other second round matches, Swedish 16th seed Thomas Johansson lost 6-3, 6-4 to Spain's David Ferrer, while Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau. – AFP
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