Injured Agassi pulls out of Lyon Grand Prix

Second-seeded Andre Agassi pulled out of the $800,000 Lyon Grand Prix today after injuring his right hip, sending Frenchman Arnaud Clement though to the final.

Second-seeded Andre Agassi pulled out of the $800,000 Lyon Grand Prix today after injuring his right hip, sending Frenchman Arnaud Clement though to the final.

The American was trailing 6-3 behind Clement, the man who knocked him out in the first round of the U.S. Open this summer, before deciding to withdraw.

"I'd been struggling with my hip for about a week but only with tightness," said Agassi, looking discouraged. "But today, Arnaud sent a quick shot up the line that I wasn't expecting and I pushed off and opened up and suddenly that tightness turned into a sharp pain.

"The pain was getting worse everytime I pushed off and it was impossible to move," he continued. "I was concerned I might really do some damage, which might already be done, so I decided."

Agassi will undergo tests in the next couple of days to determine the extent of the damage, and whether he will be fit to play at the Master Series event in Paris next week.

It was clear something was wrong from the start, the American looking slow and favoring his right leg as girlfriend and former tennis ace Steffi Graf looked on anxiously from the sidelines.

With Agassi struggling, Clement surged to a 3-0 lead in the opening set, after which the American needed a three-minute break for physiotherapy on his right side.

Though he managed to break back to get back on serve, the American then lost the next two games.

After Clement held serve to wrap up the set 6-3, Agassi chose to retire.

"There's no question it's disappointing," said Agassi, playing in only his second tournament since crashing out in the second round of the U.S. Open. "I was doing well here this week."

Taking a break for personal reasons after his surprise second-round exit at the U.S. Open, Agassi only returned last week in Stuttgart where he went out in the third round.

The American has won just one title this year, the Australian Open in January.

But the Grand Slam crown automatically qualifies the American for the prestigious end-of-year end-of-season Tennis Masters Cup, an elite eight-player event in Lisbon later this month. Other qualified are with Pete Sampras, French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, U.S. Open champion Marat Safin and Swede Magnus Norman.

Agassi's withdrawal sent Clement to his first final of the season. The Frenchman will meet the winner of the other semifinal between eighth-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia and Morocco's Hicham Arazi.