Agassi hints at Paris farewell after shock defeat

ANDRE AGASSI’S chances of returning to Roland Garros in 2005, and playing in a 17th French Open, are looking slim after suffering a crushing first round defeat yesterday to French qualifier Jerome Haehnel.

“I want to come back but I just don’t know. It’s a year away. That’s a long time for me right now. The chances get less every year for sure,” said the American sixth seed after his 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 defeat to Haehnel, ranked 271 in the world and playing in his first tour match.

Agassi, French Open champion in 1999 and looking for his 800th career win, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 1998 when he also lost in the first round here to another qualifier, Russia’s Marat Safin.

“It’s very disappointing. The standard required for having a decent shot of winning here is a long way off. But I got what I deserved today.”

At 34, Agassi knows his chances of adding a second French Open title to the one he won in 1999 are remote and, with that in mind, tried to keep his powder dry in the run-up to Roland Garros to stay fresh and focused.

Coming into Paris, he had played just one match in the last two months and that too ended in defeat at the hands of Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic, ranked 339, another qualifier in the first round on clay at St Polten last week.

“You always want enough matches but I’m not at the stage of my career where I have a lot of options,” said Agassi.

“I have to choose carefully and hope for a few things to fall my way to find everything I need to ever have a chance of winning.

“I took the clay season off because I have always believed that it's a surface that takes more out of some people than others. For me it’s always been that way.

“That was the way I approached this season. It ends with the biggest clay tournament in the world. My performance today speaks for itself.”

Agassi will now switch his attention to Wimbledon, the US Open and the Olympics.

“I have every expectation that Wimbledon and the US Open are going to be a lot better than this,” he said.

In the meantime, a sluggish Tim Henman staged a remarkable comeback from two sets down to advance to the second round.

The ninth seed blamed his form on a mystery energy-sapping virus despite finding the strength to survive a marathon 3hr 47min battle to defeat unheralded Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-3.

Elsewhere, US Open champion Andy Roddick advanced to the second round with a straight sets win over fellow American Todd Martin, while in the women’s competition, home hope Amelie Mauresmo fired the first shot in her bid for her first Grand Slam title by advancing to the second round with a straight sets win over Slovak Ludmila Cervanova.