No. 1 Agassi bounced by Ferrer

The American failed to maintain control against the No. 60th Spaniard.
ROME (AP) -- Andre Agassi barely had time to enjoy his latest reign at the top.
In his first match since becoming the oldest man to be No. 1 in the rankings, Agassi lost to David Ferrer of Spain 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 at the Italian Open on Monday.
"To get to No. 1 at my age was already an accomplishment, and it's a long year so we'll be going back and forth," the 33-year-old Agassi said. "But the most disappointing thing is to come to Rome and lose in the first round, there's nothing good about that."
To be replaced
As a result of his defeat, Agassi will lose his No. 1 ranking to Australian Lleyton Hewitt when the new rankings are published next week.
Despite an easy first set, Agassi failed to maintain control of the match as the 60th-ranked Spaniard began holding serve in the second set and slowly gained confidence.
"He didn't play his best," Ferrer said.
"I think I played the match of my life. In the first set, I was very nervous. But then I just told myself: 'Stay calm, relax, enjoy,' and I started playing better."
In the decisive third set, Ferrer forced Agassi to hit into the net on break point to go up 5-4. Agassi then had four unforced errors as Ferrer served out the match.
"In the third set I wasn't nervous," Ferrer said.
"I thought, 'If you win, great. If you lose, you've done everything you could to win."'
Agassi's brief appearance on the Foro Italico courts was very different from last year's performance, when he stormed to the final and beat Germany's Tommy Haas in straight sets.
The ascent
Just over a week ago, Agassi fought back to defeat fellow American Andy Roddick in the final of the U.S. Men's Claycourt Championships and capture the No. 1 ranking from Hewitt and regain the top spot for the first time since Sept. 10, 2000, when he was replaced by Pete Sampras.
Hewitt and Sampras have both withdrawn from the tournament, but the Australian is still set to regain the top ranking as he had much fewer points to defend in Rome.