TENNIS PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP : Shelton Uses ‘Huge’ Serves to Beat Agassi

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. —  The slide continues for Andre Agassi, an upset victim in his opening match Saturday night at the International Players Championships.

Agassi, who has failed to reach the quarterfinals in any of his five tournaments this year, lost to unseeded Bryan Shelton, 6-4, 6-4.

Agassi, who was ranked fourth at the end of 1990, has fallen to No. 14 in less than 15 months.

Shelton, ranked 59th, had 13 aces and won all 30 points when his first serve was good.

“He served huge,” Agassi said. “The game has boiled down to that--if you’re serving huge and can do it game after game, it’s hard to lose.”

Fellow Americans Jim Courier and Pete Sampras survived three-set matches. Courier, the defending champion, beat Thierry Champion, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2; Sampras rallied to eliminate Shuzo Matsuoka, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Sixth-seeded Michael Chang defeated Ramesh Krishnan 6-3, 6-1.

In women’s play, second-seeded Steffi Graf beat Wiltrud Probst, 6-3, 6-1; No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini swept Katrina Adams 6-2, 6-3, and No. 9 Zina Garrison beat Pascale Paradis-Mangon 6-3, 6-4.

Courier needed 2 hours 20 minutes to put away the unseeded Champion.

“It was like someone was pushing at me and I wasn’t going to push back,” Courier said. “I finally decided to push back.”