Tennis: Agassi drops out
ANDRE AGASSI, the Wimbledon champion, has withdrawn from next week's Australian Open because of bronchitis. The American, who would have been playing in his first Open in Melbourne, had been suffering from a virus and bacterial infection which has developed into bronchitis.
Agassi's Davis Cup colleague, Pete Sampras, was also having some health problems but managed to overcome a nosebleed and a dismal first set before beating the Ukrainian, Andrei Medvedev, in the first round of the New South Wales Open in Sydney yesterday.
Sampras, the world No 3, was heading for defeat midway through the second set but eventually fought his way back to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 85 minutes.
Medvedev, who moved 200 places up the world rankings in 1992 to No 23, lost his way in the third set and even the sight of Sampras slumped in a chair failed to revive him.
Sampras, who arrived in Australia two days ago, identified the air- conditioning in his hotel room as the source of his nose problems.
'I just haven't played too much for the last month and got off to a pretty slow start. I could easily have lost,' Sampras said.
Results, Sport in Short, page 31
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