Agassi stays alive after early scare

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) Andre Agassi today prolonged his Wimbledon farewell after recovering from a poor start to beat Boris Pashanski 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-3 in the first round.

The ever popular 36-year-old Las Vegan, who announced last week that he would end his glittering career after this year's U.S. Open, looked rusty on Centre Court before finding his range to stay on course for a third-round clash with Rafael Nadal.

Eight-times grand slam champion Agassi said he feared an undignified exit from a tournament he has grown to love since winning the title in 1992.

''I went from feeling nervous, to a little embarrassed, to digging in,'' said Agassi. ''He was keeping me guessing and when you drop the first set the match can get away pretty quickly.

''I was over-hitting a lot but when I settled down in the second set I began to feel better and it was pretty comfortable in the end.

''The reaction from the crowd meant a lot to me and I just wanted to do them proud.'' Serbian Pashanski, a Wimbledon debutant, took advantage of Agassi's early nerves to storm through the first set in 32 minutes and a shock looked on the cards.

However once 25th seed Agassi, who had only played eight matches on the tour this year, relaxed the match quickly turned around and he began to dictate the rallies.

He showed flashes of his best to win the next two sets and Pashanski buckled at 3-3 in the fourth to hand his opponent the decisive service break.

Reuters SK VP0043