Andre Agassi overcame a sluggish start to oust Tommy Haas 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the $2.5 million Toronto Masters on Monday.

Haas, who defeated Agassi in the quarter-finals at Los Angeles two weeks ago, took the first set before the eight-times Grand Slam winner rallied to beat the German for the fifth time in eight career meetings.

After two evenly-matched sets that featured several momentum changes, Haas double-faulted in the ninth game of the third to hand Agassi a 5-4 lead before the American held serve to clinch the win.

"I felt good tonight, I was running well," said Agassi, who last week became only the sixth man to claim 800 career victories.

"I'm trusting my legs out there, which is a good feeling again," he told reporters.

Still searching for his first title of the season, Agassi's ranking has slipped. The 34-year-old is seeded 10 this week, his lowest in the tournament since 1998.

But Agassi, who has won the event three times, remains the favourite of the fans. He was greeted by a standing ovation as he walked on to the main court for the first time at the new $38 million Rexall Centre tennis facility.

PRETTY SPECIAL

"It's pretty special out there, it was a great atmosphere," Agassi said.

"It feels like you're playing in the final in the first round. I needed it (the support of the fans), it felt good."

In other first-round matches, seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to retire against France's Fabrice Santoro.

Trailing 3-2 in the opening set, Spaniard Ferrero received treatment for back spasms from an ATP trainer but was unable to continue, saying he was in too much pain.

"I hit a return and I started to feel it," Ferrero said. "When I was serving I felt I couldn't play."

It has been a frustrating year for the former French Open champion, who has been plagued by injuries and is without a title win in 2004.

Ferrero, who missed a month of competition after being diagnosed with chicken pox in March, did not know how serious his injury was.

"I hope to be ready for Cincinnati, but I don't know," he said, referring to next month's Masters tournament before the U.S. Open.

Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, the 16th seed, was hard pressed but finally tamed Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Paradorn Srichaphan, the 14th seed from Thailand, defeated Romanian Andrei Pavel 7-5, 6-2 in the only other match involving a seeded player.