Agassi exposed on clay

Andre Agassi, the world No 1, shrugged off his crushing defeat in the German Open yesterday by the game's most talented clay-court player and maintained that he would be in great shape for this month's French Open.

Sergi Bruguera, who has won the French Open for the past two years, thrashed Agassi 6-3, 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

While the American world No 2, Pete Sampras, could look forward to today's semi-final against Andrei Medvedev after a 6-2, 6-2 win over the South African Wayne Ferreira, Agassi headed home to begin two weeks of hard fitness preparations before the start in Paris on 29 May.

Agassi was clearly frustrated with his performance and was involved in a brief argument with a spectator at the end of the match.

"I am not getting too worked up about it. I will now train on my legs so I can stay out a long time [in best-of-five-sets matches at the French Open]. I will be in very good condition in Paris," Agassi said.

"Sergi played exceptionally well. I was surprised at how pitiful my serves were. Maybe I tried to make the shots too good. I was a little anxious. I had too much respect for his clay-court game."

The frustrated American's game wilted as the Spaniard kept him pinned on the baseline with superb accuracy from the back of the court.

Bruguera, who appears to have recovered well from a knee injury earlier this year, meets the big-serving Goran Ivanisevic in the semi-finals. The Croat beat the Swiss Marc Rosset 6-1, 6-3.

n Boris Becker, ranked No 3 in the world, has pulled out of next week's Italian Open because of a back injury.