Agassi Set For Round Of 16 No. 1 Player Continues Chase For His First French Open Title

He hasn’t lost a set in three matches. He’s playing with patience as well as power. He’s putting his clay-court demons to rest.

Andre Agassi is beginning to look unstoppable as he chases his first French Open title and a career sweep of the four Grand Slams.

The top-ranked Agassi made it look easy Friday as he beat Francisco Clavet 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 in just 89 minutes to reach the round of 16. He won his previous matches by the scores of 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, and 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.

“Everything feels great,” Agassi said. “Today was the first clay-court specialist I’ve played. It was a test for me.”

The ease with which Agassi dispatched No. 33 Clavet underlined his dominating form.

“I’ve definitely got myself to a place where I believe that I can play and win on this surface,” said Agassi, who lost in the finals here in 1990 and 1991. “I feel very confident right now.”

It was clear from the start that this would be a mismatch.

The left-handed Clavet had no weapons that could hurt Agassi. The American controlled the tempo from the baseline, moving Clavet from side to side, patiently mixing up the pace before going for the big winner.

“I’m glad to win easily,” Agassi said. “I want to have all my cylinders firing when the times come. On clay, the most important is the physical. Late in the tournament you want to make sure you have your legs. I’d take physical toughness in this tournament over mental toughness.”

The contest was so one-sided that Agassi’s coach, Brad Gilbert, left the players’ box during the third set. Confident of Agassi’s victory, he went to scout Agassi’s next opponent - a Moroccan qualifier named Younes El Aynaoui, ranked No. 224.

Agassi reiterated that he would trade his No. 1 ranking for the French title. If he succeeds, he would be the first American since Don Budge in 1938 to win all four Slams in his career.

“It would be an incredible accomplishment, but I’m not going to allow myself to think about it until I win it,” he said.

Jim Courier, Thomas Muster and Andrei Medvedev were the other big names to advance Friday.

In women’s play, No. 2 Steffi Graf needed just 44 minutes to defeat Nathalie Baudone 6-2, 6-1. No. 4 Conchita Martinez ran her season’s clay-court record to 24-0 by beating Julie Halard 6-1, 6-2, while No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini advanced 6-3, 6-4 over Irina Spirlea.

The 13th-seeded Courier, champion here in 1991 and 1992, downed Christian Ruud 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Courier, who hasn’t dropped a set, said he was happy to be playing away from the pressure and spotlight.

“Hopefully, I am sneaking through and the others won’t notice me,” he said.

The fifth-seeded Muster extended his clay-court winning streak to 31 with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over Carlos Costa. It’s the longest clay streak since Mats Wilander won 31 in 1982-83.

Muster’s streak will be on the line in the next round against unseeded Andrei Medvedev, the most dangerous floater in the draw.

In the most tightly-contested match of the day, Medvedev outlasted No. 11 Alberto Berasategui, last year’s runner-up, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.”I was basically one point away from defeat,” Medvedev said. “He was really in the driving seat and I was running like a dog trying to get to his forehands. But I played double or nothing and it was double.”

At 2-2 in the fifth set and Medvedev holding break point, Berasategui hit a forehand that was called wide. The Spaniard contested the call, but umpire Bruno Rebeuh came down from his chair, inspected the line and upheld the decision.

Medvedev put an arm around the umpire in thanks and then helped him climb back into the chair. Berasategui broke back for 3-3, but Medvedev put on the pressure and won three straight games to close out the match.

No. 8 Wayne Ferreira became the sixth men’s seed eliminated in the first week. The South African, showing signs of fatigue after his five-set victory over Mats Wilander in the second round, was ousted by Alex Corretja, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.

Corretja will next face ninth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who beat David Wheaton, 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FRENCH OPEN Winners: Top-seeded Andre Agassi beat Spaniard Fransisco Clavet, No. 5 Thomas Muster defeated Carlos Costa for his 31st consecutive win on clay and No. 9 Yevgeny Kafelnikov downed David Wheaton. Three-time champion Steffi Graf breezed past Nathalie Baudone of Italy in the women’s draw. Also advancing were No. 4 Conchita Martinez and No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini. Losers: No. 11 Alberto Berasategui, last year’s runner-up, was eliminated by Andrei Medvedev and No. 8 Wayne Ferreira was defeated by Alex Corretja of Spain. A look ahead: Defending champion Sergi Bruguera meets Brett Steven of New Zealand, thirdseeded Boris Becker plays Romania’s Adrian Voinea, and Michael Chang meets Tomas Carbonell. On the women’s side, defending champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario plays Austria’s Beate Reinstadler and last year’s runner-up, Mary Pierce, faces Florencia Labat or Argentina. Stat of the day: Excluding Pete Sampras, the seeded Americans have dropped only two sets in the tournament.