2005 Australian Open - Day #1
By Alix Ramsay  |  January 17, 2005

Welcome to the Australian Open sponsored by Medicaid. As the great and the good dropped like flies before the event started - Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters to name but a few - the health of those well enough to make the trip is a major source of discussion.

The main focus of the opening day was Andre Agassi's hip. Now, the great and balding hero has been note for many things in his life but his right hip is not one of them. That all changed in Kooyong last week when, playing Andy Roddick in an exhibition event, he felt something go 'ping'. Pulling up short for fear of doing any major damage, he spent an anxious 48 hours waiting to see what would happen next.

Scans, tests and much prodding and poking by the doctors revealed a micro-tear of the tendon and the prognosis that all would be well even if he continued to play. A two hour work out against Tim Henman last Saturday - Henman won but it was Agassi who looked the happier - proved that his leg would neither seize up not drop off if he pushed it and today he came through his opening match at the Open with flying colors, beating Dieter Kindlmann, a qualifier from Germany, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.

After a set or so to settle his worries over the ailing hip, Agassi gradually began to look more like himself and by the third set poor little Kindlmann did not stand a chance. It was just the test he needed to boost his confidence and set him on his way.

"I woke up feeling the best yet since it happened," Agassi explained. "And with the assurance that I'm not going to pull anything bad, I had the green light to push through anything that I might be feeling. And that's what I did, I just pushed through a bit of stiffness and then I felt like it loosened up nicely and I was OK.

"I played Tim the other day an it pulled up good on Sunday - a little stiffer than normal but nothing that I can't negotiate with some anti-inflammatories and a little treatment. And today it felt even better than that so it was a bit more on my terms, the way my body was feeling. I like that. So I think it should be fine."

The rest of him, though, is in splendid nick. Leaner than ever before - a good 10lbs lighter since the Christmas break - he is feeling exceptionally well for a man approaching his 35th birthday. The weight loss was not really intended but came as a result of his brutal off-season training regime. The more sweated, the more pounds he shed and, all things considered, he thinks it is not a bad thing. "The design is to be in the best shape you can," he said. "And that I do feel."

Next in line is Rainer Schuettler, the 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Olivier Patience and the chap Agassi beat with ease to win the Australian Open title in 2003. Not that Agassi is foolish enough to underestimate Schuettler but he is hoping to think further ahead than the second round. The prospect of Roger Federer in the quarter finals, for instance, cheers him up enormously. "To play Roger means I've beaten three more players," he said, "so that's something I would welcome."

Serena Williams would happily take another few rounds, too. Since she was beaten in the final of the WTA Tour championships by a combination of a badly pulled stomach muscle and Maria Sharapova, her tennis has been rather limited. She is another star under close scrutiny as the promoters keep everything crossed in the hope that she can keep body and soul together until the second week.

Not that she has not been busy in her weeks away. There was the Venus and Serena road show, a television show, a fashion show - she has barely paused for breath.

The TV show, "All of us", allowed Williams to play two roles: herself and her assistant, Wanda. Playing herself was easy but Wanda, an eccentric with bizarre clothes and 'a really loud blonde wig' took a little more effort. Allowed to ham it up and go for the jokes, she had a great time.

"I really got to stretch my comedic role," she said. "I was really going out there. I ad libbed so much."

Television, it would seem, stretched Williams more than the hapless Camille Pin who put up little resistance as she was steam-rollered 6-1, 6-1. Once Williams had sorted her footwear - she forgot to tie her shoelaces and one shoe flew off - there was no stopping her.

Mardy Fish was almost stopped by Juan Monaco of Argentina before scraping into the second round 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, 4-6, 9-7. He was in the minority as Jan-Michael Gambill and Justine Gimelstob both gave up without a fight.

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