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Reitmeyer sails into 2nd round
Rettenmaier replaced an injured Agassi and beat Scoville Jenkins 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round.
Travis Rettenmaier replaced an injured Andre Agassi and beat Scoville Jenkins 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the SAP Open on Monday for his second ATP Tour win. Rettenmaier, who played collegiately at UCLA, lost to Brian Wilson in qualifying but made the tournament when Agassi pulled out Sunday night with a strained lower back.
"I should write a thank you note to Andre," Rettenmaier said. "I got the call about 10 pm on Sunday, Rettenmaier. "I just played the match against Jenkins. I was nervous and I just hit it the best I could. I'm really pleased how I handled the moment." Rettenmaier's father and best friend were in the audience to watch the match.
Jenkins was originally going to face Agassi in the Monday's featured evening match when the draw was announced on Friday. "I find out that I'm going to play a player that's totally different from him," Jenkins said. "I always wanted to play him as a kid. I'm hoping I get another chance."
In another first-round match, Vincent Spadea defeated qualifier Sam Querrey 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2. The 79th ranked Spadea took advantage of 528th ranked Querrey's six double faults.
Bjorn Phau upset last year's runner-up, Cyril Saulnier, 6-4, 7-5. Phau capitalized on Saulnier's 53 unforced errors. Agassi, who was seeded second in the ATP event, told tournament director Bill Rapp on Sunday that he couldn't play.
Agassi has played only four matches since reaching the US Open final last September. He sprained his left ankle playing racquetball on Oct 12. Agassi aggravated the injury during the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, where he was upset by Nikolay Davydenko in the first round.
He pulled out of last month's Australian Open because of the injury and then lost to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Championships this month in his first tournament of the year.
