Monday November 12 8:38 AM ET

Andre Agassi Beats Patrick Rafter

By JOHN PYE, Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - It took Andre Agassi (news - profile - photos) a little while to adjust to being a dad.

Agassi, 31, was a little rusty Monday in his first match since his son Jaden Gil was born last month to his wife, Steffi Graf (news - profile - photos).

But it took him only two games to get his mind back on tennis in a 6-2, 6-4 win over Patrick Rafter (news - profile - photos) during the opening night of the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

``If feels good ... It's all so new to me,'' Agassi said. ``Very few things in your life you cherish so much, and I have to say the one you cherish the most is your child.

``I would be lying to say that it hasn't been a time of focusing on other things but, with that being said, I have maintained my fitness and my preparation and it is really motivating.

``I'm in a different chapter in my life and I'm anxious to see how things develop for me. I doubt I'll be able to do this long enough that my boy will get to see me play, but it sure is nice to dream a little bit about that - it's easy to think about.''

No. 2 Lleyton Hewitt beat No. 7 Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 as he and No. 3-ranked Agassi closed the gap on No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten (news - profile - photos) in a tournament that will decide top spot for the 2001 ATP Champions race.

Agassi trailed 0-2, then won six consecutive games to take the first set in 27 minutes.

He faltered after breaking Rafter early in the second, dropping his own serve and then having to save two break points to equalize at 3-3.

After giving the No. 6-ranked Rafter a breakpoint chance, Agassi swatted the ball into the crowd.

``I got frustrated at that particular point because I didn't put the hammer down when I had the opportunity,'' he said. ``And it had to do with concentration too - when you haven't played matches, there's a certain amount of concentration lacking and that allows a certain amount of temper to kick in.''

But he regained his composure to win three of the next four games and serve out to love when the Australian put a backhand return into the net.

Kuerten, who overcame Marat Safin's 75-point lead last year by winning the Masters Cup at Lisbon, Portugal, is 1-5 in his most recent six matches.

Going into the tournament, Kuerten had 771 points and a 48-point lead over the second-place Hewitt, who won his first grand slam title at the U.S. Open (news - web sites) during an ATP record 17-match winning stretch. Agassi had 684 points.

Players get 20 points for a win in each of their three round-robin matches, 40 for a semifinal victory and 50 for the title.

Kuerten opens Tuesday against Wimbledon (news - web sites) winner Goran Ivanisevic (news - profile - photos), and Juan Carlos Ferrero plays Yevgeny Kafelnikov (news - profile - photos).