In a clear example of his frustration, Agassi smashed his racket to the ground after falling behind 3-0 in the second set. Stoppini, who earned his first career tour victory over American Paul Goldstein on Monday and entered the tournament ranked 246th, benefited from seven double faults by Agassi, and won 85 percent of his first-serve points.
"Breaking a racket for me has always been a sign of caring about something that you can't quite get over the hump with," Agassi said.
"I was very frustrated. I wanted very bad to get out there and be comfortable and hit my shots. But I felt like with every point, the court got smaller and smaller and I had a hard time keeping the ball on the court. I never found my rhythm," he said.
Now in the final month of his 20-year career, Agassi said he hopes to find that rhythm before bidding farewell to the tour after the US Open, which begins on Aug. 28.
"I hope when I get back to the familiar sights and sounds of Arthur Ashe Stadium that something takes over, but I don't know what to expect," Agassi said. "That's the part of it that's pretty hard to get my arms around."
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