Friday, Nov. 14, 1997 | 10:57 a.m.
On the surface it looks like it might have been easy. The scores were 6-4, 6-1.
But don't be deceived. Unlike Tuesday when Andre Agassi appeared to be paired with a minor leaguer in the first round of the Luxor Las Vegas/USTA Men's Challenger tennis tournament at UNLV, Agassi's second-round opponent Thursday was no pushover. Roberto Jabali put up a good fight before succumbing in a match that featured a number of world-class points.
Maybe Jabali didn't fare any better than Michael Tebbutt and maybe the match didn't stretch beyond an hour, yet he pushed Agassi and gave him a scare -- something Tebbutt failed to deliver in his 6-2, 6-4 loss to Agassi two days earlier.
"Yeah, in the first three games (Jabali) hit more balls than Tebbutt did in that entire match," Agassi agreed. "He's steady and he's not going to make a lot of errors. I had to find my range and it took me a few games to do it."
Agassi trailed 4-2 in the opening set before finding a solution to Jabali, a tall Brazilian ranked No. 217 in the world. Agassi, ranked No. 141, captured four consecutive games during his rally to win the first set, then stormed through the second set as Jabali came somewhat unglued in the face of Agassi's constant pressure.
The victory puts Agassi, seeded No. 16, into today's third round against No. 12 seed Brian MacPhie at 2 p.m. at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. A win there and another win Saturday and Agassi would reach the Sunday final in the $50,000, 32-man event that pays $7,200 to the winner.
"I'm here to use this tournament to take a step forward," said Agassi, who will also play in the Challenger Tour event next week in Burbank, Calif. "I want to win this tournament and move on. The more matches the better right now."
Jabali, unlike Tebbutt, appeared poised and not intimidated, and he forced Agassi to add some variety to his attack. There were captivating points decided by power, as well as others decided by skill.
In all, it was a heady performance by the three-time Grand Slam champion, who, for 30 weeks during 1995-96, was the top-ranked player in the world.
"I had to play aggressive but under control," Agassi said. "To get him on defense I had to take little chances. Then I was able to put together two-, three-, four-shot combinations."
On a cold, sunless day that included a little sprinkle midway through the opening set, Agassi reveled in the spirited interplay he had not only with his hometown crowd but with the officials. Unlike his first-round match in this satellite tournament, he conversed freely and jabbed at lines judges when he felt their calls were incorrect.
"I was just trying to keep them on their toes," he said of the officials who stoically took his best shots. "We were all working out there."
Agassi knew there was work to be done when Jabali used an early service break to go up 2-0 in the opening set. But service breaks were commonplace in the first stanza, as Agassi was broken twice and Jabali three times -- including the three-deuce 10th game.
The second set was far less complicated and Jabali won only the first game, on serve. From there Agassi overwhelmed him with rocketing serves and somewhat errorless play, the momentum clearly swinging in his direction after he held serve at 3-1.
The match ended with a dejected Jabali returning a volley into the net. As well as he played, he was overmatched and up against a high-caliber player on something of a mission.
"I'm getting better," Agassi proclaimed. The evidence supported him, a beneficial match in the books against a solid player who was being used as a steppingstone toward the likes of Pete Sampras and beyond.
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