ACOG - News - IBM

(27 July 1996; Day 8)

Defending Gold Medalist ROSSET and No. 3 ENQVIST Fall; AGASSI Advances

It was a less than stellar day for men's Olympic tennis Saturday, as two of the men's top seeds fell in the third round of singles play at Stone Mountain Park.

The day got off to a dismal start with a seemingly endless rainstorm that began 10 minutes before the first of the day's 17 scheduled matches. The courts were dried three times during the three-and-one-half-hour delay before play got underway mid-afternoon.

But it was hardly smooth sailing from there, as upsets loomed for two singles medal favorites. First to fall was eighth-seeded Marc ROSSET of Switzerland, the defending singles gold medalist. ROSSET was knocked off the court by 14th-seeded Renzo FURLAN of Italy, who took the first six games of the match in less than half an hour.

ROSSET got on the board in the second set, winning his only two games of the day before complaining of dizziness and retiring at 6-0, 4-2. ROSSET told reporters he had been having vertigo-like symptoms since the ATP event in Gstaad earlier this month, and had been examined by a doctor who was still uncertain as to the cause.

"I don't know what happened," ROSSET said of his play on Saturday. "I lose my balance when I serve, I cannot stand up and I feel like I have no power in my legs. I am probably going to have some tests to see if everything is all right, but I don't know what to do exactly."

Also at a loss was third-seeded Thomas ENQVIST (SWE), who became the second seed of the tournament to fall to India's Leander PAES. PAES advanced to the second round earlier this week with a default win over No. 11 Richey RENEBERG (USA) before dispatching ENQVIST, 7-5, 7-6.

Top-seeded Andre AGASSI managed to avoid an upset of his own by the narrowest of margins, coming back from a set down to post a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italy's Andrea GAUDENZI.

"I was fortunate to turn it around," he said. "In the first set-and-a-half, I was making errors, but I felt I was dictating the course of the match. I had confidence, stayed focused and felt pretty much in control once I got back into the second set."

AGASSI now advances to the singles quarterfinals, where he'll meet fifth-seeded Wayne FERREIRA of South Africa, a 7-6, 7-6 winner over Todd WOODBRIDGE of Australia.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Melissa Horton.


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