MELBOURNE, Australia, 13 January 2005 — Super-fit Andre Agassi laid the groundwork for an Australian Open assault on Fortress Federer with an opening win at the Kooyong Classic yesterday as his Swiss rival stuttered in his match.

Federer, the world number one who began 2005 with a 14th straight title last weekend in Doha, dropped the first set against Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina before rallying to win 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Agassi, the ageless veteran who remains a serious title threat at age 34, got his eye in on the Rebound Ace of Kooyong club, defeating Chile’s Olympic champion Nicolas Massu 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

The 34-year-old -- looking in superb condition after a winter training regime that saw him shed around five kilograms -- showed almost no rust and on this showing will be among the favorites for next week’s Open.

Agassi regularly bench-pressed 141kgs during his intense December training camp in Las Vegas to prepare for the season and harbors few doubts that 23-year-old Federer remains the man to beat.

“If you finish number one for the year like Roger did, that’s an incredible effort,” eight-time Grand Slam winner Agassi said of Federer’s 11 titles last season, including three of the four Slams and the Masters Cup.

“He’s setting the standard and making all of us work harder. I’m thankful for that.”

After his first set stutter, Federer broke loose with his flowing trademark game to carve out victory, overcoming 49 unforced errors as he experimented to fine-tune his lethal game.

While he admitted the Open challenge was on his mind, he said he doesn’t want to let it slip at Kooyong.

“For the Open, it’s important that my confidence remains high. I want to play good matches here also. I haven’t had much of a hit, just 45 minutes on Monday when I arrived and an hour yesterday,” he said.

The eight-man Kooyong has been the event of choice for the top names in the sport, with eight of the last 10 champions at the Open getting their eye in here, former home of the major until 1988.

Agassi, a four-time Australian Open winner, struck a dozen aces and had 34 unforced errors on his first competitive match since last October’s loss in the final of the Stockholm Open. The Chilean committed 41. Briton Tim Henman, one of the few players to hand Federer a setback in 2004, took a victory against Kooyong defending champion David Nalbandian, defeating the Argentine 6-1, 7-5.

World number three Andy Roddick kept his unforced error count down as he beat Croatian substitute Ivan Ljubicic, brought on to replace injured Thai Paradorn Srichaphan. Roddick earned a 6-1, 6-4 result, striking 19 errors to 46 for Ljubicic.

Coria Saves Face as Seeds Tumble in New Zealand Open

In Auckland, top seed Guillermo Coria survived a day of carnage for seeded players at the New Zealand Open yesterday when it took a tie-break in the final set to quell Frenchman Cyril Saulnier in their second round match.

Defending champion and No. 3 seed Dominik Hrbaty and No 4 seed Vince Spadea both fell by the wayside as the tournament’s lesser lights came to the fore. Second seed Tommy Roberto went out in the first round.

Going into the quarterfinals, Coria is the only seed left in the top half of the draw, while Chilian fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez and sixth seed Juan Ignacio Chela from Argentina are the only seeds remaining in the bottom half. Coria knows he is lucky to still be in contention after he convincingly took the first against Saulnier but then struggled as the Frenchman moved up a gear to level at a set-all before Coria came back to win 6-3, 4-6, 7-7 (7 3).

There were plenty of long rallies and no shortage of class from Saulnier, with Coria acknowledging it was exactly the type of match he wants in his lead-up to the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Monday. He plays Belgian Olivier Rochus in the quarter-finals after the world No 71 continued his impressive form with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Italian qualifier Federico Luzzi.

Rochus epitomises the battlers who plug away on the outside courts while the bigger names take up residence on centre court.

His win over Luzzi took place on the same remote territory where he removed eighth-seeded Peruvian Luis Horna in the first round.

That changes in the quarterfinals -- “finally” he quipped -- when he gets his chance on centre stage against Coria. Another outside court regular, Czech Republic qualifier Jan Hernych continued his improbable progress into the quarter-finals.

Having sent former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero flying in the first round, he removed the last of the six Spaniards who started the main draw, Albert Martin 6-4 6-2.

In the second round upsets, Hrbaty was cleaned out by Argentinian Jose Acasuso 7-6 (7 5), 6-3, while Spadea fell to fellow American Robby Ginepri 7-5, 6-3. Chela, who like Rochus has done his business out of the limelight so far, breezed past Brazilian Ricardo Mello 6-2, 6-1 and will play Italian Potito Starace in the quarter-finals.

Dulko Advances Into Hobart Semifinals

In Hobart, Australia, second-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko advanced to the Moorilla International semifinals with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win yesterday over Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic.

Dulko, who with Guillermo Coria helped Argentina reach the final of the Hopman Cup team event last week in Perth, will play third-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals. Benesova beat countrywoman Nicole Vaidisova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 yesterday.

The other semifinal will feature two Chinese players. Yesterday, Zhang Jie beat Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 and Li Na defeated Marta Domachowska of Poland 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Meantime, the world’s highest-ranked tennis players yesterday donated autographed rackets to raise cash for victims of the Asian tsunami.

World number one Roger Federer, second-ranked Andy Roddick and number three Lleyton Hewitt have each given the sport’s organizers the ATP autographed rackets used in play.

The rackets will be mounted together in one framed presentation case and is being auctioned on the ATP’s website www.atptennis.com.

Bidding opened at A$10,000 ($7,570) and will close on January 28.