Agassi, Nadal sweep; 2004 women's champ falls

NEW YORK -- Like an ageless rock star, Andre Agassi took the court for his 20th straight U.S. Open to roars that drowned out his introduction.

He gave his adoring fans one more memory Monday night in a match that was little more than a practice session, and he left, as always, blowing kisses in all directions.

No one, not even Agassi, knows if this will be his last U.S. Open, but if it is he started it out in fine fashion with a tidy 69-minute, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 romp over an overwhelmed and thoroughly outclassed Romanian, Razvan Sabau.

The love affair began anew for Agassi, and for the first time with a charismatic teen 16 years younger.

Rafael Nadal and the U.S. Open are made for each other. He is high-energy personified, a New York kind of guy -- big, bold and muscular on court, impossible to ignore in his skintight, sleeveless, Big Apple red shirt and black toreador pants.

The king of clay, who captured the French Open two days after he turned 19 in June, showed in round one here that he can be just as dominating on hard courts.

Seeded second behind Roger Federer, Nadal unleashed fiery flashes reminiscent of a young Jimmy Connors amid a workmanlike 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout of hard-serving American wild card Bobby Reynolds on a hot, muggy opening day.

Nadal is a far more mature, exciting and efficient player than he was in his first two U.S. Open appearances the past two years, when he was sent packing in the second round each time. This has been a breakthrough year for him. He's won not only his first major title but eight other tournaments, including the Montreal Masters on hard courts two weeks ago, with a three-set victory over Andre Agassi in the final.

It is very different, too, for Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. A year after she emerged from virtual obscurity to win the title, she sprayed shots wildly in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova and became the first U.S. Open defending women's champion to fall in the first round.

There was little surprise in Kuznetsova's early ouster. She's been struggling to find her rhythm all year and came into the Open with a mediocre 27-14 record and no titles.