TENNIS Roddick assured of No. 1

He got some help from Andre Agassi, who beat No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero.
HOUSTON (AP) -- As recently as 2000, Andy Roddick was playing in junior tournaments.
Just 12 months ago, he was ranked 10th, too low to qualify for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.
Now he's No. 1, assured of becoming the 13th player -- and second-youngest -- to finish a year atop the ATP Tour computer rankings.
And he owes at least a tip of the hat to Andre Agassi.
By recovering from a terrible start Wednesday night to beat No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi guaranteed that Roddick's points total for 2003 can't be topped.
"Glad I could help. I aim to please," Agassi said with a smile.
"It's an incredible accomplishment, especially the way he's done it, coming on late in the year. He has a lot to feel proud about," added Agassi, who ended 1999 at No. 1.
Began in January
Roddick's breakthrough season began to take shape in January at the Australian Open, where he outlasted Younes El Aynaoui 21-19 in the longest fifth set in Grand Slam history. That allowed the American to reach his first major semifinal.
He also made the semifinals at Wimbledon, then claimed his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open by beating Ferrero. Roddick replaced the Spaniard at No. 1 last week.
"I'm incredibly honored to finish the year as No. 1, but I'm probably more proud to be the sixth American ever," the 21-year-old Roddick said.
Only Lleyton Hewitt, who was 20 in 2000, has been a younger No. 1.
"It's hard to reflect on what a year this has been, but I'm incredibly fortunate to be playing at home in the United States. To be able to share all of this with my friends and family is better than I could have ever imagined," Roddick said.
He also probably should thank Agassi for splitting with coach Brad Gilbert early last year. Roddick is 46-6 (a winning percentage of .885) since hiring Gilbert right after a first-round loss at the French Open.
Meets Schuettler next
Roddick can add what would be a season-leading seventh title of 2003 by winning the Tennis Masters Cup. After winning his opening round-robin match Tuesday, he was slated to face No. 6 Rainer Schuettler (1-0) today.
Also on the schedule: No. 4 Guillermo Coria (0-1) vs. No. 7 Carlos Moya (0-1), and No. 5 Agassi (1-1) vs. No. 8 David Nalbandian (1-1) for a semifinal berth.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer (2-0) already qualified for the semifinals when he beat Nalbandian 6-3, 6-0 on Wednesday.
Ferrero's loss to Agassi left him 0-2 in the round-robin portion of the $3.65 million tournament, meaning he can't possibly qualify for the semifinals. The French Open champ needed to get at least that far to have a chance at overtaking Roddick.
"To be No. 2 isn't bad," Ferrero said. "I had a very good year. I'm very pleased with the whole year."
He can't be too happy, though, with the way he played in Houston. Ferrero didn't put up much of a fight in losing his opening match to Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1, and then he let Agassi climb out of a hole.