Andreev Shocks Idol Agassi; Roddick Cruises

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Russian Igor Andreev continued the upsets on day two of the Stella Artois Championships after defeating third seed Andre Agassi. The 20-year-old, who had never played on grass before arriving at The Queen's Club, maintained the kind of form that helped him defeat Juan Carlos Ferrero at Roland Garros with a 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) victory over his boyhood idol. Agassi, who is still just one match short of his 800th career win, has now lost his last three first round matches - the first time since 1997.

"There's no secret," said Andreev. "You have to come out and forget about everything, not think about who you are playing and just try to play your game. Sooner or later you have to start to beat these guys and compete with them. I played against Ferrero so I had a bit of experience of playing on Centre Court with these guys. I just tried to do the same thing again and I'm really happy to have won today."

Agassi, who did not face a break point during the 1-hour, 56-minute encounter got the only break of the match to lead 3-2 in the first set. As the second set went to the tie-break, it was the Valencia-based Russian who forged a 6-1 lead, and eventually took the set with a service winner.

In the third, Agassi twice came within two points of victory at 5-4, but the 34-year-old American could not press home his advantage as Andreev moved confidently into another tie-break. Just as he had in the previous set, Andreev opened up a 4-0 lead, and although Agassi came back to 4-3, the Russian won the next three points to secure a famous victory.

On what he thinks about his first experience on grass, Andreev added: "Now I will say yes. It's been a very good experience for me to play on grass. I'm starting to find my game and in the third set I was playing really well."

Andreev, who now has a 14-17 record in 2004, will meet Frenchman Olivier Patience for a place in the quarterfinals.

There were no problems for top seed Andy Roddick however, as the defending champion opened his campaign with a straight sets victory over Karol Kucera. Roddick fired 13 aces en route to a 7-6(4), 6-2 win in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and will now meet either 1994 champion Todd Martin or Croatia's Mario Ancic for a place in the quarterfinals.

"It was a little weird in the first set," said Roddick. "I wasn't hitting the ball real clean. I was able to get through it and came up with some clutch shots in the tie-break. In the second set, I felt like I was hitting the ball a lot better. I felt if I could have combined the way I was serving in the first set with the way I was hitting the ball in the second, I would have been a lot happier, but it's a process and I'm looking forward to the next match. Grass suits my game. I'm really excited about getting on the grass. It's a fun transition for me."

On his friend Ian Flanagan, who defeated Mark Philippoussis on Tuesday, Roddick added: "We became pretty good friends in the last couple of years in the juniors. We've kept in touch and he's been over to see me in the States. When he was in the qualies here, I was hoping he could get through the first match, then he won that, won the next and got through to the main draw. Now he's beaten Philippoussis, so I was real proud of him today. He's cocky enough but in a good way."

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