Nadal, Agassi return to action at Masters Cup

SHANGHAI—World number two Rafael Nadal and US veteran Andre Agassi return to competitive tennis at the Masters Cup, a day after Roger Federer survived a scare in his comeback match from injury.
Nadal, out with knee trouble since winning last month’s Madrid Masters, will be bidding to extend his wins record to 80 this year against Argentinian world number nine Gaston Gaudio. Agassi, who has not played since losing the US Open final against Federer in September, will open his campaign against seventh-ranked Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Both will be hoping for a less demanding return than Federer who, after damaging ankle ligaments a month ago, was taken to a third and deciding set by old rival David Nalbandian. Federer was 3-1 down in the last before rallying with back-to-back breaks to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, calling it “one of the better moments of my career”.
Nadal, 19, has played down his chances here despite coming off a stellar season in which he won a teenage record 11 titles including the French Open. The Spaniard, the youngest player in the year-ending tournament since 1993, says his knees are still troubled by tendinitis and that the Qi Zhong Stadium court does not suit his baseline game.
“It’s clear that the court is difficult for me and, compared with other tournaments, it’s clear that it’s not the best,” said the clay-court specialist. However, he may be in good company with Gaudio, whose five titles this season have all been on clay. The Argentine has a 3-2 record against Nadal. Meanwhile Agassi, at 35 the oldest player here by eight years, has spent two months on the sidelines since his 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 defeat to Federer in New York. Agassi, who has back problems and sprained an ankle playing racquetball, is appearing at a record 13th season-ending tournament. He won the title in 1990 and is a three-time runner-up.
Davydenko, by contrast, is making his Masters Cup debut after breaking into the top 10 for the first time in June. He has lost both his previous matches against Agassi, the second time on the hard courts of Dubai this year. The eight players here have been divided into two groups of four and play three matches each, with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals on Saturday.—Agencies