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Enqvist Stuns Agassi, Aiming for Elite Status Again
The most vivid memory of Thomas Enqvist the Destroyer was in 1999, when he literally blew home country lads Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis off the court with a wicked kick serves and bludgeoning groundies to gain the Australian Open final.
He was heavily favored to win his first Slam title, but he was picked apart by old junior foe Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who guaranteed victory before the match and beat him by playing retriever some five feet behind the baseline. An impatient and mentally unglued Enqvist literally hit himself out of the match and since that time has never been the same player, reaching only one quarterfinal in his last 12 Grand Slams. The soft-spoken blonde was Thomas the Destroyed.
But the Thomas Enqvist who handed second seed Andre
Agassi his first loss of the year by upsetting the American 6-7 (8-6),
6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the Franklin Templeton Classic on Monday
looked a lot like the guy who once sank Rafter and Philippoussis, reached
No. 4 in the world and won tennis Masters Series titles at Paris,
Stuttgart and Cincinnati.
"Thomas is great player who hits the ball big, goes through good patches
on his serves and returns and if he puts it together, he's pretty tough to
beat, " Agassi said. "He got the early break in each set and when he's
feeling the momentum he's starting hitting bigger and close to the lines.
He stepped up and I didn't raise my game to answer that."
In defeating the Agassi for the fifth time in nine matches, Enqvist was
relentless from inside the baseline and served huge, ringing up 18 aces
and facing only three break points against one of the world's most
proficient returners. His kick serve had tremendous bite, he ably kept up
with Agassi in crosscourt backhand rallies and his forehand was an
industrial-sized hammer down the line.
Agassi came into the match with a 12-0 record in '03, winning his eighth
Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and taking his fourth title in San
Jose two weeks ago. But like he did in '95 when he stopped Agassi's
15-match winning streak cold in Philadelphia, the Swede rarely allowed
Agassi to control the center of the court and pounced on his second
serves.
Enqvist fell behind 6-0 in the first-set tiebreaker, but leaped back to
6-6 before he double faulted and Agassi smashed a backhand down the line
winner to take the set. But Enqvist charged ahead in the second set,
breaking Agassi in the opening game and then breaking him again to 4-1.
The 28-year-old closed out the set with a booming service winner.
ENQUIST CHARGES THROUGH THIRD
The Swede broke Agassi to open the third set with an outright return of
serve forehand winner and then broke Agassi again to 4-1 with a blowtorch
forehand down the line. Enqvist broke Agassi to win the contest with
another forehand down the line winner.
Enqvist is enamored with the pace that Agassi gives him. "I've played a
few time shown he's killed me, but I like when balls comes fast at me and
Andre hits extremely hard," said Enqvist, whose won 19 career titles but
who was 1-6 in '03 entering Scottsdale. "I've also played against him when
I've been in good shape and been a little lucky sometimes winning close
matches. It's a big one for me to beat Andre. I've been struggling with
injuries and I've been trying to come back to the level I think I should
play. It shows me that I can still play very good tennis."
Enqvist had a very rough 2002, falling to No. 44 in the year end-rankings,
his lowest since 1994. His decline was mostly due to the fact that he
sustained a shoulder in jury at the US Open and couldn't compete in the
fall. He had his moments, winning Marseilles and taking out Tim Henman and
Greg Rusedski in Davis Cup.
Agassi said that Enqvist has underachieved a little. "It's hard to say,"
Agassi said. "He played in a final of a Slam and won a number of
tournaments and that's not easy to do, but I've always thought that he can
do better."
The 6-foot-3 Swede has had more foot and shoulder
injuries during his 13-year career than his entire national soccer team
combined. He's currently ranked 71 but believes he still has some good
days left ahead of him.
"My big goal has always been to win a Grand Slam and that's why I continue
to play," said Enqvist, who will face James Blake in the second round.
"That's' still a big motivation to me."
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