Agassi still going strong
Andre Agassi played down talk of his imminent retirement after booking his place in the third round of the US Open at Flushing Meadow.
The 34-year-old was 7-5 2-6 6-2 1-0 ahead when Florian Mayer, who is 14 years his junior, retired.
After the match, Agassi said: “Let this be a signal – I’m not considering retiring at the end of this tournament.”
The pair traded breaks in the first set before Agassi edged it.
It was more of the same in the second set, but the German took his chances this time.
Mayer slowed down in the third set and struggled with his left leg, calling for the trainer when he was 5-2 down.
After treatment on his thigh, Mayer dropped the next game and the set and, after Agassi broke in the opening game of the fourth set, the German called it a day.
The two-time champion now meets 25th seed Jiri Novak, a 7-5 6-1 6-3 winner over Alex Calatrava.
Olympic men’s singles champion Nicolas Massu suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Sargus Sargsian of Armenia in the second-longest US Open match on record.
Sargsian’s epic 6-7 (6/8) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 victory came after five hours, nine minutes on court 11.
Only Stefan Edberg’s defeat of Michael Chang in the 1992 men’s semi-final, at 5:26, took longer.
Also crashing out was 21st seed Taylor Dent, who reached the final four in Athens only to lose to Massu.
The American was beaten 6-7 (6/8) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (8/6) by Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Carlos Moya, the men’s third seed, dropped the second set to Bosnian-born US citizen Amer Delic before eventually progressing 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-2.
