TENNIS MASTERS CUP Federer jars Agassi, boosts No. 1 bid

Roger Federer's win lifted hopes for a top ranking.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Andre Agassi paid quite a compliment to Roger Federer: He likened the reigning Wimbledon champion's on-court grace and cool to Pete Sampras'.
Those qualities came in handy for Federer in his opening round-robin match at the Tennis Masters Cup, facing a deficit against Agassi and a partisan crowd.
Federer played through his rough patches Monday night and erased two match points to get past Agassi 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (7), keeping alive an outside chance of ending the year with the No. 1 ranking.
"His disposition and the way he moves on the court -- you never feel like he's out of control. You never feel like he's panicked," Agassi said. "While any athlete knows that you can't help but feel these things, he does a great job of keeping that gracefulness about him."
Going for lines
Federer pretty much ceded the first set Monday, with three straight forehand errors helping Agassi take a 6-0 lead in that tie-breaker. But the third-ranked Federer kept going for lines with his serves and ground strokes, compiling 63 aces, overcoming 50 unforced errors.
Federer -- at 22, he's 11 years younger than Agassi -- had fresher legs and crisper shots in the last tie-breaker. He did away with Agassi's second match point at 7-6 with a run-around forehand winner and ended the nearly 21/2-hour match by smacking a cross-court forehand passing winner on a full sprint.
If he's going to catch current No. 1 Andy Roddick, Federer needs to win another four straight matches, through the round-robin portion, the semifinals and final.
Roddick slated tonight
Roddick's first match at the season-closing event is tonight against No. 7 Carlos Moya. The other player with a chance at topping the rankings is No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who lost to No. 8 David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1 on Monday.
In May, Agassi became the oldest man to reach No. 1 -- he's now No. 5 -- and his 58 career titles match the total of the seven other Tennis Masters Cup participants.
But he couldn't muster his absolute best in the clutch against Federer. In the final tie-breaker, Agassi had a double-fault, dumped one easy forehand into the net and wasted a match point with a poor return.