Andre Agassi, vomiting during changeovers because of scorching 118-degree heat, won his first tournament since assuming the top ranking, beating Stefan Edberg 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 Sunday in the finals of the $675,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
Agassi played all four of his previous matches at night and was confronted Sunday with searing afternoon temperatures and humidity.Agassi said he felt sick during the first and second sets, throwing up a couple of times during changeovers.
"It was extremely hot, but I felt great before the match," he said. "Then I started feeling worse and worse, and I had to make a decision about whether to give it everything and possibly not have anything left for the third set or to try to save myself a little."
Agassi, who 14 weeks ago ascended to No. 1, joined Jimmy Connors and Guillermo Vilas as the only three-time winners of the 26-year-old event. Agassi also won the tournament in 1990 and 1991.
He lost service in the first game of the second set, putting him behind 4-1. Agassi then had a prolonged discussion with chair umpire Dana Laconte, before playing listlessly the rest of the set.
Agassi rebounded in the third set, breaking Edberg in the second game to lead 5-2. But the Swede held serve, then broke Agassi. After Edberg held again, Agassi immediately dropped his racket and ran off the court, returning just as mysteriously minutes later.
Agassi held serve, then took a 40-15 lead, wrapping up the match when Edberg hit a forehand return into the net.
Edberg, the defending champion, pointed to the beginning of the third set as the key.
"If he didn't break me (in the second game) then I could possibly have held on and been in control of the match," he said. "I felt much better than I did yesterday (Saturday), but I made far too many mistakes . . .
Agassi won $90,000 and Edberg $47,300.
In the doubles final, sixth-seeded Jeff Tarango and Olivier Delaitre rallied from a poor first set to defeat Petr Korda and Cyril Suk of Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.