Andre Agassi made a triumphant return to the court after a two-month injury layoff, routing French lucky loser Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-1, 6-0 in Los Angeles on Tuesday at a $380 000 ATP hard-court tournament.
The 35-year-old American, top seeded in Los Angeles at an event he has won three times, had not played a tour match since an opening-round loss at the French Open in May.
A nagging sciatic nerve problem kept him out of Wimbledon for the second successive year, but Agassi showed no sign of trouble in advancing to a second-round match against compatriot Kevin Kim.
Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan or American wild card Paul Goldstein could await Agassi in the third round.
Two other lucky losers, Israel’s Noam Okun and Russian Dmitri Tursunov, made the main draw when first-round United States foes Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish both withdrew — fifth seed Dent with an illness and Fish with a sore left wrist.
Third seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany dropped out of his first-round match against American James Blake due to an illness.
The US wild card was leading 3-2 when Kiefer quit, handing Blake a berth in the second round against compatriot Robby Ginepri, who ousted Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 6-4.
Second seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia downed compatriot Karol Beck 6-4, 6-1 in another first-round match, while two qualifiers also advanced.
American Zack Fleishman ousted compatriot Vince Spadea 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Israel’s Amir Hadad beat American Cecil Mamiit 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller ousted French qualifier Sebastien de Chaunac 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to book a second-round date with Fleishman. — Sapa-AFP