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Rankings war moves into high gear

Andre Agassi's return to the top ten, for the first time since January 1997, highlights the latest ATP rankings.

The former world number one, who dropped out of the top 100 following a disastrous 1997 season, is now ninth, despite his defeat at the hands of Richard Krajicek in the last four of the recent Canadian Open in Toronto.

That defeat ended a hot streak that saw Agassi win 14 games in succession, his victims including Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic in successive outings in Toronto.

Notable over-achievers also include Patrick Rafter, who went up to the number three slot following his win against Krajicek in the final of the Canadian Open.

The latest top ten (points in brackets) reads thus: Marcelo Rios (3,719); Pete Sampras (3,421); Patrick Rafter (3,306); Petr Korda (3,195); Carlos Moya (2,902); Greg Rusedski (2,706); Jonas Bjorkman (2,650); Richard Krajicek (2,642); Andre Agassi (2,423) and Yevgeny Kafelnikov (2,418).

With the race for the top slot raging between Pete Sampras (who lost it more or less by default, when Agassi knocked him out of the Canadian) and Marcelo Rios (who regained the number one slot he held briefly in March), the spotlight is now on the Great American Insurance ATP Championship, a Mercedes Super 9 tournament with $2.45 million in prize money.

This year, the tournament has a spectacular field -- nine of the world's top ten are participating, the exception being sixth-ranked Greg Rusedski who is sidelined by an injury.

Sampras has made no secret of the fact that as much as the US Open crown, the number one spot is a definite goal. "What matters is who holds the top ranking at the end of the year," said the American ace, pointing out that last year, he had lost in the fourth round and thus didn't have too many points to defend this time. "If I can make it past the fourth round, then I will be improving on my points and ranking," Sampras argued after his defeat in the Canadian.

Rios, meanwhile, is a rather unpopular entry at the top of the rankings ladder -- if only because his performances have not appeared to match his ranking. The temperamental star, in fact, has only made it past the quarterfinal stage of one Grand Slam in his entire career -- a rather lop sided record for a player being named the best in the world.

He is a hungry competitor, always giving of his best when the chips are down. However, he finds himself more at home on softer, slower clay than on grass and hard courts, and another factor against him is that he is erratic -- as underlined, recently, by a surprise loss to the semi-retired Boris Becker last month.

Rios will defend his ranking when he faces Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, later tonight.

Sampras, the defending champion and seeded number one, will be seen in action on Wednesday, when six of the top eight seeds will figure on court.