Agassi loses Opener for U.S. Davis team
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-05 09:48

Andre Agassi's return to the U.S. Davis Cup team certainly didn't turn out the way he hoped. Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic beat Agassi 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 Friday in the first of three days of the opening-round matches.

Andy Roddick, playing No. 1 singles for the Americans, faced Mario Ancic, designated Croatia's No. 2, in the second and final match of the first day.

Agassi could get another chance on Sunday, when he is scheduled to play Ancic in the fifth and final match of the opening round. The doubles are on Saturday.

The United States' Andre Agassi makes his return to the Davis Cup at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., Friday, Mach 4, 2005. Agassi lost to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic during the frist round match of Davis Cup, 6-3, 7-6 (70), 6-3. [AP]

Playing for the Americans for the first time in five years, Agassi lost the opening set after falling behind, 3-0, then was up 5-2 in the second before the hard-serving Ljubicic won three games in a row.

Ljubicic dominated the second-set tiebreaker with his serve, finishing the 7-0 shutout with a pair of aces.

He overpowered Agassi again in the third set, putting an exclamation point on his victory with another ace to close out the match.

The loss was only the sixth in 36 Davis Cup matches for Agassi, who has played on three teams that won the championship, and his first in eight matches when he led off a round for the United States.

Although red, white and blue-clad fans made up the bulk of the crowd of some 5,000, there were plenty of Croatian backers sporting their red and white garb. Los Angeles has a large population of transplanted Croatians.

The chants seemed to alternate between "Go, Andre, Go!"and "Go, Ivan, Go!" during the match.

Agassi, who turns 35 next month and is almost a decade older than Ljubicic, had his moments, including a number of perfectly placed drop shots for points.

But Ljubicic, off to a fine start on the tour this year, took control of the match with his serves, often in the mid 130-mph range and as high as 141 mph.

Ljubicic, 25, has gained four tour finals already this year. Although he lost each time, three of those defeats were by No. 1 Roger Federer.

Slovakia 2, Spain 0

At Bratislava, Slovakia, defending champion Spain was in serious danger of going out in the first round.

Playing without three of its top players, Spain struggled in the opening singles matches. Dominik Hrbaty defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3, while Karol Beck defeated Feliciano Lopez, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

Three months ago, Spain defeated the United States to win its second Davis Cup. But the key player in that victory, Carlos Moya, dropped out of this year's competition to concentrate on Grand Slams. Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo also bowed out with injuries.

Belarus 1, Romania 1

At Brasov, Romania, Andrei Pavel beat Vladimir Voltchkov 6-4, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) to help Romania pull even.

Max Mirnyi won the first point for Belarus after beating Victor Hanescu 7-6 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Sweden 1, France 1

At Strasbourg, France, Thomas Johansson beat Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (1) to lift Sweden into a tie. Earlier, Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated Joachim Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to win the first singles match and give France an early 1-0 lead.

Russia 1, Chile 1

At Moscow, Australian Open champion Marat Safin struggled past Adrian Garcia 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to pull Russia even with Chile. Olympic bronze medalist Fernando Gonzalez defeated Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the first singles match of the day behind 26 aces.

Australia 2, Austria 0

At Sydney, Australia, Lleyton Hewitt and Wayne Arthurs won in straight sets to give Australia the lead.

Hewitt, playing for the first time since losing the Australian Open final to Marat Safin on Jan. 30, beat Alexander Peya 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Arthurs, who won his first career singles title in Scottsdale, Ariz., last weekend, beat Austrian No. 1 Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on a grass court at the 2000 Olympic site.

Argentina 2, Czech Republic 0

At Buenos Aires, Argentina, Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian won their singles matches to put Argentina ahead. Coria defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 after Nalbandian bested Jiri Novak 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on outdoor clay at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

Netherlands 2, Switzerland 0

At Fribourg, Switzerland, Peter Wessels and Sjeng Schalken put the Netherlands on top.

Wessels defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (12), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7), 6-4 in 3 hours, 51 minutes. Schalken, who recently returned from severe glandular fever, needed 3:56 to beat Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

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