Andre Agassi began his run as the oldest top-seeded player in the Open era by beating Alex Corretja of Spain 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the US Open.
"It's a weird feeling. You just sort of expect to leave the dance with the ones you came with. When they decide that it's time for them, it's a sad feeling," the 33-year-old Agassi said.
"I'm certainly proud to still be doing this, this long and at this level."
At 20, fellow American Andy Roddick is just getting started, and he looked pretty impressive in handling Tim Henman of Britain 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
"In my opinion, he's playing better than anyone in the world right now. That's stating the obvious," Henman said. "He is going to be tough to beat. He's so confident right now. He's got such a big game, and he's using it very well."
It was a matchup worthy of Week 2 at a major rather than Day 2, but four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Henman missed two months after shoulder surgery in February and has slipped to 34th in the rankings.
Michael Chang lost his final match as a pro Tuesday at the US Open in a far more muted farewell than Pete Sampras' retirement announcement the night before.
While Sampras waited a year after his last match -- beating Agassi in the 2002 US Open final -- to tell the world he was finished, Chang has been on a farewell tour since the beginning of the season and made clear the Open would be it for him.
And unlike the half-hour tribute to Sampras replete with a choir and speeches, there was no big celebration of Chang's career Tuesday, although the US Tennis Association has talked with him about doing something next week.
Only a few thousand fans were on hand for the start of his match against No. 15-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, but, as always, Chang gave it his all.
"On court, it would be nice to be able to be remembered as a person that gave his best -- win, lose or draw," said Chang, whose career highlight was winning the 1989 French Open at age 17. "It's going to be tough leaving tennis."
He had his chances against Gonzalez, and produced a few top-notch shots, but in the end succumbed to the Chilean's all-out power game 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil was eliminated 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (1) by Russian-born qualifier Dmitry Tursunov, who now lives in the US. In the sixth game of the last set, action was delayed for a few minutes while a heckler was removed by security at Kuerten's request. Winners included Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler of Germany, No. 11 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, two-time major champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain.
Three other seeded men lost: No. 21 Spaniard Felix Mantilla -- ousted by Ivo Karlovic, the 6-foot-10 Croatian who stunned Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon -- No. 29 Feliciano Lopez of Spain and No. 32 Vince Spadea of the US.
Among the women, three-time major winner Jennifer Capriati of the US needed just 35 minutes to reach the second round, overpowering Cristina Torrens Valero of Spain 6-0, 6-1.
French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium started off with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Aniko Kapros of Hungary, a qualifier who upset her in the first round at Roland Garros last year. Others advancing included No. 7 Anastasia Myskina and 2000 semifinalist Elena Dementieva, both of Russia, while No. 10 Magdalena Maleeva, No. 16 Elena Bovina, No. 21 Anna Pistolesi, and No. 31 Alexandra Stevenson were the seeded women who left early.
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