August 30, 2006	Wednesday	Sha'aban 5, 1427

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NEW YORK, Aug 29: Andre Agassi's retirement will have to wait a little longer after the eight-time Grand Slam winner battled to a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Romania's Andrei Pavel in the US Open first round on Monday.

At times looking like a maestro and others like the 36-year-old he is, Agassi needed three hours and 31 minutes to clinch victory in front of an adoring capacity crowd of nearly 24,000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

A parade of seeded players won easily on the opening day of the tournament, including number nine Andy Roddick who overwhelmed Italy's Florent Serra 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in just 75 minutes.

On the women's side, No 2 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, No 4 Elena Dementieva and 10th-seeded Lindsay Davenport advanced to the second round.

There were few upsets at the National Tennis Center, with the notable exception of third seed Ivan Ljubicic who was ousted by Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Regardless of how the unseeded Agassi fares in the tournament, his match against Pavel will surely be among the highlights of the 2006 Open.

After capturing the second-set tiebreaker 10-8 to level the match, Agassi had the momentum and looked to be well on his way to a second-round meeting with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

But the 32-year-old Pavel, who had an 11-17 record in 2006 and had not played a hardcourt match since March, silenced the crowd by breaking Agassi's serve in the opening game of the third set and racing into a 4-0 lead.

Agassi, however, refused to quit and reeled off the next five games before forcing a tiebreaker which he won 8-6.

With the raucous crowd cheering his every shot, Agassi rolled over a battle-weary Pavel in the fourth set to win his sixth match over the Romanian in seven career meetings.

Agassi, the double US Open champion who will retire after the tournament, will have some well-earned time off to prepare for the eighth-seeded Baghdatis on Thursday.

Roddick, the 2003 Open champion, served notice that he is primed for a run at another title by whipping Serra under the watchful eye of new coach Jimmy Connors.

Roddick will face Kristian Pless of Denmark or Alberto Martin of Spain in the second round.

Henin-Hardenne overwhelmed Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-2, 6-1 in 74 minutes, just two days after capturing the New Haven title in her only tournament since Wimbledon.

Advancing along with Henin-Hardenne was Davenport, who showed no signs of the shoulder injury that forced her to retire from the New Haven final.

The 1998 champion needed just 52 minutes to stop Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-1, 6-4.

Dementieva advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over American Laura Granville, while number six seed and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova stumbled briefly but recovered to beat Germany's Sandra Kloesel 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Monday’s first-round results:

Men’s singles: Andre Agassi (US) beat Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6), 6-2; Xavier Malisse (Belgium) beat 13-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-4, 7-5, 6-2; Benjamin Becker (Germany) beat Filippo Volandri (Italy) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland) beat Fernando Vicente (Spain) 6-4, 6-1, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat 31-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Thiago Alves (Brazil) beat Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) 6-2, 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Kristian Pless (Denmark) beat Alberto Martin (Spain) 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-2; Bjoern Phau (Germany) beat Jeff Morrison (US) 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4; Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5; 11-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-6), 6-1; 8-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Alexander Waske (Germany) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat 3-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Gilles Simon (France) beat Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 7-5, 6-4, 6-1; Justin Gimelstob (US) beat Oliver Marach (Austria) 6-2, 6-3, 7-5; 25-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Phillip Simmonds (US) 6-1, 6-3, 6-1; Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat 24-Jose Acasuso (Argentina) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spain) 7-5, 6-4, 6-0; Nicolas Massu (Chile) beat Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Arnaud Clement (France) 7-5, 6-2, 7-5; 6-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Flavio Saretta (Brazil) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; 9-Andy Roddick (US) beat Florent Serra (France) 6-2, 6-1, 6-3; Mardy Fish (US) beat Simon Greul (Germany) 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat 19-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3; 20-Novak Djokovic (Serbia & Montenegro) beat Donald Young (US) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6 -1.

Women’s singles: Sania Mirza (India) beat Karolina Sprem (Croatia) 6-4, 6-2; Alina Jidkova (Russia) beat Jessica Kirkland (US) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; 29-Jie Zheng (China) beat Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; Anastassia Rodionova (Russia) beat Hana Sromova (Czech Republic) 7-5, 7-5; 7-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Anna Smashnova (Israel) 6-1, 6-2; 9-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) beat Chanda Rubin (US) 6-4, 6-3; 19-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) beat Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-4; 14-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Romina Oprandi (Italy) 6-1, 6-2; Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) beat Conchita Martinez Granados (Spain) 6-2, 6-4; 20-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Julia Schruff (Germany) 6-3, 6-4; Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) beat Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) beat Lioudmila Skavronskaia (Russia) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3); Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) beat Yung-Jan Chan (Taiwan) 6-4, 6-2; Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Samantha Stosur (Australia) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Lauren Albanese (US) beat Olga Savchuk (Ukraine) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2; 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Laura Granville (US) 6-1, 6-4; Aravane Rezai (France) beat 15-Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4; 22-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat Akiko Morigami (Japan) 6-2, 6-3; 10-Lindsay Davenport (US) beat Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-4; 6-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Sandra Kloesel (Germany) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Severine Bremond (France) beat Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-1, 6-3; Emma Laine (Finland) beat Meilen Tu (US) 6-1, 6-1; Varvara Lepchenko (Uzbekistan) beat Catalina Castano (Colombia) 6-7 (9-11), 6-1, 6-1; Martina Mueller (Germany) beat Anastasiya Yakimova (Belarus) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3; 21-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat Vasilisa Bardina (Russia) 6-2, 6-2; Tathiana Garbin (Italy) beat Meng Yuan (China) 6-3, 6-1; 33-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Marta Domachowska (Poland) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 26-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Olga Poutchkova (Russia) 6-4, 6-0; Vania King (US) beat Alicia Molik (Australia) 6-3, 6-2; Jill Craybas (US) beat Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-0; 2-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-2, 6-1; 28-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-0.—Reuters