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Rain gives Agassi a day off at the US Open

Andre Agassi received another anti-inflammatory injection on Saturday and got an extra day to rest before playing in the third round of the US Open because his match was postponed because of intermittent rain.

"I'll be all right. I don't need sympathy. I'll be OK," Agassi said with a smile as he walked toward an exit, his racket bag slung over a shoulder.

With the rain growing stronger in the early evening, the day and night sessions were called off. Agassi's match against German qualifier Benjamin Becker -- slated to be third in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday -- was rescheduled for 11am yesterday.

Matches involving Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova were also pushed back to yesterday.

The 36-year-old Agassi, playing in the final tournament of his career and fighting a bad back, has been on court for more than seven hours already, including his five-set thriller against eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis that began on Thursday night and finished in the wee hours on Friday.

"I prefer not to have a drama-filled one tomorrow," said Agassi, whose eight Grand Slam titles include two at the US Open.

The benefit of having time to rest his bothersome back could also result in having to play on consecutive days down the line -- if Agassi beats Becker, he would be scheduled to play in the fourth round today, possibly against 2003 US Open champion Roddick.

The delay also gave Becker more time to ponder what it might be like to face Agassi, a player he grew up admiring and emulating.

"The most difficult [part] is he's going to have to be able to erase in his mind that he's playing Andre," said Becker's coach, Tarik Benhabiles, who used to work with Roddick.

Agassi went to a hospital to have a cortisone shot last Tuesday after his first-round victory over Romania's Andrei Pavel. Agassi's trainer, Gil Reyes, estimated he's had eight to 10 such injections over the past four years. Then, with his back too painful for a car ride after the Baghdatis match, Agassi had a tournament doctor go to his hotel on Friday to give him anti-inflammatory medicine.

On Saturday, Agassi practiced indoors for about 45 minutes, then arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center shortly before 2pm. He left about an hour later, having received the latest injection, and Reyes said Agassi would probably have another yesterday.

As Agassi entered the locker room alone on Saturday, he was walking much better than he did after the Baghdatis match, when he was hunched over and hobbling. It was so tough to stand then that Agassi took a moment to lie down on his back on the concrete outside while waiting to be picked up for the ride to his hotel.

"He's sore. He's tired and inspired," Reyes said. "It matters to him. I'm overwhelmed how important it is to him. All summer it was about getting him here. Now it's about getting him on the court."
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