Agassi cruises into second round in Montreal

Andre Agassi needed time to settle into his first-round match at the Tennis Masters Canada on Monday night, but then made quick work of local wild card Frederic Niemeyer.

Top-seeded Agassi powered back from a break down in the second set to post a 6-4 6-2 victory.

Agassi trailed 0-2 after winning a competitive opening set against the 241st-ranked Neimeyer, but the experienced American won the Canadian’s final three serve games en route to a 67-minute victory at the Stade du Maurier.

“When you’ve never played someone, no matter what you’re expecting, it always feel different,” Agassi said. “It took me awhile to settle down. I didn’t feel comfortable until the middle of the second set.

“He has such a high ball toss and he’s aggressive on it. He’s a risky player with a big serve. But he gives as away as many points as he earns.”

A three-time winner of the hardcourt event with the last title coming in 1995, Agassi is fourth overall in the ATP Champions Race.

He held the top spot for 19 weeks.

Agassi captured a record 16th Tennis Masters Series earlier this year at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami.

The 33-year-old American also has won titles in 2003 at the Australian Open, San Jose and Houston.

Niemeyer dropped to 1-4 on the ATP circuit this year, and remains without a match win here, falling to 0-7.

Rain throughout the day caused numerous delays.

Frenchman Arnaud Clement eliminated fourth seed Carlos Moya, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3 after losing five of six matches against the Spaniard.

Moya was playing his first hardcourt match since reaching the final at Miami in April.

“Playing on a hard surface really put me off balance,” Moya said.

“I’ve never liked playing against him and I knew it would be difficult. Still, I don’t think the rain delays were a factor in the match.”

Canadian Simon Larose also produced an upset, ousting number 13 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 7-5 7-6 (7-2).

But Australian Open finalist and eighth seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany dispatched Russian Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 6-4.

Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, the 11th seed, overcame tenacious Spaniard Alberto Martin, 6-0 7-6 (7-5).

The match featured a 90-minute rain delay after just a few games that lasted longer than the first-round contest itself.

Poor weather is expected to rule this week in Quebec, with thunderstorms forecast for several days.

American players split their matches Monday with Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui outlasting Mardy Fish, 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 and James Blake defeating Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

Montreal-born Greg Rusedski, British since 1995, finally ended a run of four consecutive first-round defeats in his former hometown stretching back to 1993 as he defeated Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti, 7-5 6-3.