Sports briefs for May 4, 2005

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

Agassi wins handily

Andre Agassi easily defeated French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-3 today in the second round of the Rome Masters.

The 18-year-old Gasquet entered the event with some buzz after ending Roger Federer's 25-match winning streak in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals last month.

But Agassi took just 64 minutes to beat a nervous Gasquet, who made many more unforced errors and double faults than his opponent.

"I don't know if he was nervous or not," Agassi said of Gasquet, who is 17 years younger than him. "I just tried to play well and make him play a great match to win. As young as he is, he has a lot to look forward to."

Earlier, top-seeded Andy Roddick improved to 7-0 on clay this season with a 6-4, 7-5 win over 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa.

Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium also struggled before winning her 12th straight match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

Backed by 4,000 cheering home fans, Schruff needed just 75 minutes to beat the French Open champion for the biggest win of her career and a spot in the third round. The third-seeded Myskina hasn't won more than three matches in any tournament since the Australian Open in early February.

Her record for 2005 fell to 8-9, and losing to the 107th-ranked player cast doubt on her ability to defend her title at Roland Garros.

Na next faces Jelena Dokic, who defeated Slovakia's Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-2, 6-2 for her first win since February, when she injured her groin at a tournament in Thailand and was sidelined for nearly three months.

Defending champion Emilie Loit of France beat qualifier Sybille Bammer of Austria 7-6 (5), 6-3.

U.S. team gains second round

Mark Parrish had two goals and the United States rallied to beat Latvia 3-1, clinching a second-round berth at the world hockey championships at Innsbruck, Australia.

Doug Weight also scored for the Americans (2-0), who will play Canada for first place in their group finale Thursday. Earlier, the two-time defending champion Canadians routed winless Slovenia 8-0 for their second straight win, and Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 2-1 in Vienna.

The Czech Republic also secured a berth in the next round with a 2-0 victory over Germany in Vienna, but Jaromir Jagr left the game in the second period after apparently breaking the little finger on his left hand.

-- Sun wire services