Aching Agassi and pained Hewitt set for top tussle

Andre Agassi has the hump and Lleyton Hewitt has been bellyaching. The world's two best players seem set for an intriguing tussle for the No1 spot, during which much may depend on their health.

Hewitt was unusually descriptive in explaining the upset stomach that contributed to Saturday's 6-4, 6-4 loss here to the Spanish qualifier Francisco Clavet, while Agassi appeared after a 6-4, 6-2 win over Michael Chang with a grotesquely bulging ice-pack on the painful shoulder which almost stopped the defence of his Nasdaq-100 Open title.

When asked if he needed the hump - the ice-pack - to get over the hump, Agassi said: "It's precautionary. I'm a bit neurotic that way."

Hewitt's explanation was not in the Aussie tradition. "I was as sick as a dog all night. I felt sick and got worse as the match went on. I couldn't rally."

Actually he battled formidably against the odds, but you could not imagine a Pat Rafter or a John Newcombe saying what Hewitt did. At least he knew he would still cling narrowly to the top spot no matter what Agassi did in the final.