WASHINGTON — Even on the ropes against Andre Agassi, 17-year-old Andy Roddick was having fun.
One set down, tied at 4-4 in the second and facing a game point Friday in the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Classic, Roddick kicked his left leg high on a backhand against the six-time Grand Slam winner.
"That was my wannabe Marcelo Rios shot," said Roddick, who lost the point and, one game later, the match, 6-4, 6-4. "I shanked it, so I guess it wasn't quite there."
He may have been mimicking the Chilean player notorious for quitting mid-match with injuries — many of them thought to be feigned — but there was nothing phony about Roddick's performance against Agassi.
While he lugged around the court with stiff quadriceps, the teenager still carried himself with a mixture of panache and skill probably not seen on the ATP Tour since his opponent Friday had a mane of bleached blond hair and declared, "Image is everything."
"He certainly seems to have a lot of weapons and I know he moves well," said Agassi, now an elder statesman on the tour at age 30. "So you put those together and you know he has a lot of potential."
The crop of young American players that follows the one led by Agassi and Pete Sampras finally has a pulse. And with Agassi and Sampras beginning to break down, Todd Martin and Michael Chang falling from the ranks of tennis' elite and Jim Courier retired, Roddick's arrival comes at an opportune time for U.S. men's tennis.
Roddick, who won the Australian Open among several events on the junior circuit, was playing in only his fourth ATP event and first quarterfinal of men's tennis' big leagues in Washington. He acted like he had been around for much longer.
While answering questions after his match with Agassi at the Legg Mason, Roddick wielded the microphone like an established standup comic. When asked by a media member to spell out the name of his coach (Tarik Benhabiles), the native Nebraskan spelled out the letters in his instructor's first name slowly, then said the last name quickly, drawing a laugh from the crowd.
When he spelled out the last name and the inquisitor sounded it off back to him, Roddick mimicked the late Phil Hartman's "Saturday Night Live" portrayal of Ed McMahon.
"You are correct sir!" Roddick said, eliciting more chuckles.
Roddick didn't just talk a big game. He thundered several forehands that Agassi just watched whir by and aced 1999's year-end No. 1 men's player 10 times. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Roddick registered over 130 mph on both first and second serves.
"My first serve, I was just throwing it up there and winging it," Roddick said. "There wasn't much technique involved.
"I wanted to go out there and give the people a show."
The center court crowd at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center roared as Roddick's aggressive style gave him a 3-2 lead in the first set and 3-2 and 4-3 advantages in the second. Although Agassi drilled some of his characteristic blunting backhands and returns, he overtook Roddick in each set as much through the rookie's mistakes and with on his own work.
While his shots often resembled laser beams, Roddick sent several of them sailing wildly out or into the net. He committed 31 unforced errors in all.
A game after acing Agassi with a 130-mph serve early in the second set, Roddick wasn't quick enough to get a racket on one from Agassi that registered 93 mph. He had similar trouble catching up with many of Agassi's relentless returns, as the veteran improved to 2-0 against Roddick.
"His ball's really heavy," Roddick said of Agassi. "Instead of a tennis ball, it feels more like a volleyball coming off your racket."
When he wasn't trying to stop Agassi's shots, the youngster's first- and second-serve percentages were low — 59 and 66 percent, respectively — and he couldn't break Agassi once.
"He said (after the match) the first game he noticed I couldn't move to my forehand at all," Roddick said.
Roddick is coming off a June knee injury in addition to the quadriceps problems he has come down with this week.
"I could tell he wasn't 100%," said Agassi, who had 20 unforced errors himself while playing off rust from an inactive summer brought on by back problems. "To make up for that, he was hitting the ball big and serving big.
"He's getting older and stronger and he's going to improve quickly. I like his chances to establish himself as a player."
There is much to work on. Roddick didn't use one of his main strengths — his net game — too much Friday because of his sore quadriceps. He flashed a topspin forehand at times, but it was ineffective against Agassi's refined game.
Still, the hype is there. Sports Illustrated called Roddick "the brightest U.S. prospect to rush the net in years."
Dropping one set in three matches, Roddick ripped through veterans Adrian Voinea of Romania, Fabrice Santoro of France and Karol Kucera of Slovakia at the Legg Mason before Agassi derailed him. Santoro is No. 24 in the ATP Champions race while Spain's Fernando Vicente, against whom Roddick scored his first ATP victory in March, is No. 35.
"I think in a year or two he can be a very good player," Kucera said.
Roddick's timetable is a little smaller. The teen was awarded a wild card to the U.S. Open, the year's final Grand Slam that begins Aug. 28, and says he thinks he can make some noise in Flushing Meadows.
"That's a good attitude," said Agassi, biting his tongue before saying anything more about Roddick's prediction.
How the youngster does in Flushing Meadows and over the next few years should be a good barometer of how good he will be on the men's circuit, where recent American stars have risen to the top at young ages. At 19, Chang won the French Open. Sampras was 19 when he won his first Grand Slam title — the 1990 U.S. Open. Courier won the French Open at 20, while Agassi got to the French and U.S. finals at that age.
Americans Jan-Michael Gambill (age 23), Paul Goldstein (24) and Justin Gimelstob (23) all have shown potential, but none of them has broken through yet.
And none of them seem to be as colorful as Roddick, who chatted to himself in Jimmy Connors fashion while stalking the the court between points against Agassi.
"I give myself encouragement," Roddick said. "It's an old habit I have."
So is playing video games, which he did during the three hours of rain delays he and Agassi waited out before completing their match. Though he was into a lot of other off-court distractions, Agassi said he never played many video games.
And while he's on the subject, Agassi has another difference in preference he would like to share with Roddick.
"I don't like that mosquito backhand," Agassi said of the high-kicking shot Roddick showed off in the second set Friday. "I think he should leave that in the closet."
