Andre Agassi made a successful return to the Stockholm Open after a decade-long absence, beating Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-2, 6-4 in their first-round match on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old American, who last played in the Swedish capital in 1994 when the tournament was held across town in the much-bigger Globe Arena, was in command throughout the game.
He broke Vliegen twice in the first set and was never challenged in his own service games. In the second set, the top-seeded Agassi broke Vliegen for a 2-1 lead and then aced his opponent in the next game to take a 3-1 lead.
Vliegen broke Agassi for the only time to level 4-4 with a forehand winner in the corner that the American couldn’t return.
But Agassi immediately broke back at love and served out the match.
”It got competitive in the second set,” Agassi said. ”He started playing much better and broke my serve. Then I played a really good game to break him.
”It was a good match for me, a good way to get started. The first one you always worry about, especially if you’ve never played somebody before.”
In the only second-round matches involving seeded players, number three Andrei Pavel of Romania defeated Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3, and former Stockholm champion Thomas Johansson outlasted number six Robin Soderling 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in an all-Swedish encounter.
Agassi said the conditions were very different from last week when he lost to eventual champion Marat Safin in the Madrid Masters semifinals.
”I knew there would be some adjustments,” he said. ”I was hoping that they would come quickly and I was up early so that helped me to relax.”
As he walked on to the court, the top-seed in the €643 750 event received a standing ovation from the sell-out crowd that included his wife, Steffi Graf, and former seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander. Many of the fans also gave him a standing ovation after the match, which lasted just more than an hour.
”To feel the support grow every year has been an incredible feeling,” Agassi said. ”This is such a great place to play. You walk out there and it’s so intimate. You feel like it’s really special to be there. It’s a special night to play here.
”I love this environment. It’s great to be back. I think the Globe was a nice place, but it was so big. But here … it couldn’t be better.”
Agassi lost in the Stockholm Open quarterfinals in 1989 and 1994, and in the second round in his only other start in 1990. They were all played in the Globe Arena.
The Royal Tennis Hall dates from the 1930s and is the oldest building on the ATP Tour built for tennis. The hall and the tournament are filled with great tradition. Past winners include Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Michael Stich, Wilander and John McEnroe. Former stars such as Jimmy Connors, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall also played the event at the Royal Tennis Hall.
Agassi’s next opponent is Jonas Bjorkman, the 1997 Stockholm Open champion from Sweden.
”It’s going to be tougher,” Agassi said. ”Jonas is a very talented player and does so many things well on the court. He’s a great competitor.”
Bjorkman rallied from a set down to defeat Wayne Arthurs of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Olivier Rochus of Belgium beat qualifier Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-4, 7-5 to become the first player to reach the quarterfinals. He’ll next face either Tommy Haas of Germany or Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark on Friday.
Also, wild card Michael Ryderstedt, a 19-year-old Swede who has moved up almost 300 spots in the rankings this year, defeated Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-4, 6-4, and Raemon Sluiter of The Netherlands downed lucky loser Jan Frode Andersen of Norway 6-3, 6-4 in other first-round matches.
Andersen, who lost in the last round of the qualifying event, got a berth in the main draw when Sjeng Schalken of The Netherlands withdrew because of illness. — Sapa-AP