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Agassi: He's No. 2, and Trying Harder

PARIS -- Even after winning three tournaments in his last four, moving up to No. 2 in the world, and beating the No. 1 player, Andre Agassi feels there is still room for improvement in his tennis game.


"I've got a lot of improving to do. I feel like there are certain points in my game that I can strongly improve. I feel like I am going to address that over this winter and come out even playing better," Agassi said after his 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Marc Rosset in the Paris Open final Sunday.


The victory moved Agassi up from No. 7 to No. 2 in the tennis rankings -- from No. 32 in February. And he intends to get better.


"I really feel like my shots can become a lot stronger. I believe I can take more chances," Agassi said.


After winning the U.S. Open in September he has his sights set on the Australian Open in January.


"The best thing is to win Grand Slam tournaments," he said. "Hopefully, some day you can say, 'Yeah, I was No. 1 for a while or for this long.' But to win the Grand Slam tournaments is what is most important to me."


In Paris, Agassi took his fifth title of the year and the 24th of his career. Since the beginning of September, Agassi has lost only in a third-set tiebreaker to Goran Ivanisevic in the Stockholm quarterfinals. Agassi beat top-ranked Pete Sampras on Friday.


In Oakland, California, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario denied Martina Navratilova a dream victory in the final match of the $400,000 Bank of the West Classic on Sunday, fighting back from the brink of defeat to win 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).


Navratilova, in the second-to-last tournament of her 19-year career, played brilliantly in the first set and said later there were moments that reminded her of the form that brought her three of the four Grand Slam titles in 1984.


The third set was a see-saw battle, as the players traded service breaks six times. But the tiebreaker went nearly all the Spaniard's way, with Navratilova making four costly errors.

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