Safin Pulls Off Another AUSSEI Miracle

Agassi’s last real chance at another Slam is gone
Andre: 'The toughest day I’ve ever had'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

About six weeks – before Andre Agassi very likely lost his last real chance to win a Grand Slam when failed to capitalize on numerous chances in a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 5-7, 1-6, 6-3 Aussie Open semifinal defeat to Marat Safin in what he called "the toughest day I've had," – here’s what I wrote in Inside Tennis magazine concerning what would portend for tennis wiseman in 2004.

"While one should never count out Agassi at the Aussie Open – where his brutal off-season conditioning program has paid off four times – the 33-year-old is due for a downer Down Under. Sure, Agassi responds like no other to Melbourne's searing heat and loves the slightly higher bounce of Rebound Ace, but none of the Ferocious Four (Roddick, Federer, Ferrero and Hewitt) have won titles there and you can bet that all of them – especially the highly patriotic Hewitt – will come into the Aussie with incredible intensity.

"Because of his age and the depth of the tour on clay, Agassi has almost no chance at Roland Garros. His return of serve – which was once a revelation – still remains one of the tour's best, but he hasn't shown in recent years that he can survive the knockout punchers at Wimbledon. He appears to have lost that infamous half-a-step and more than a few ounces of power and whether his wealth of experience and master strategist's mind can make up for that is very questionable. It will be at the US Open where he will make his glorious last stand, but he will lose deep in the tournament in a memorable classic. New York should start preparing itself now for his more than likely retirement ceremony."

Given how great Agassi has been for health and popularity of the game since 1997, it’s very painful to watch this perilous prediction coming true. He’s still a terrific strategist and does have medium-sized weapons, but when he needs to come up with a huge shot at a key moment against an elite player such as Safin, he has lost a little confidence, which has doomed him over the past year. Just look at his performance over three hours and 42 minutes on Thursday night against the super determined Marat.

Siggi Bucher

At 33, Agassi may have seen his last real chance at Slam title No. 9 vanish.

Agassi held a set point at 5-4 in the first set, but Safin nailed a backhand pass then a forehand winner to hold for 5-5. The American committed a couple of key unforced errors in the breaker and had to shake his head after Safin came up with the goods when he boomed one of his 33 aces to win the set.

Agassi broke the Russian in the third game of the second set, but again couldn’t serve it out and had a horrific case of déjà vu when Safin served another ace to win the second set tiebreak 8-6.

Still a brave soul who knew as well as anyone that Safin was quite capable of tiring in a long match, Agassi stood strong, winning the next two sets; the fourth which Safin admittedly gave away by.

And then they were into the glorious fifth, where Agassi’s legendary conditioning was supposed to pay off and Safin was supposed to be to exhausted to move after his spectacular five set win over Todd Martin, his tough four-setter over James Blake and his marathon five-setter over No. 1 Andy Roddick. But the Russian found a reserve we have never seen from him before and began to boom his huge groundies once again. He broke Agassi to a 3-1, never looked back and won the contest at love with a backhand down the line.

Had Agassi won, he would have equaled Roy Emerson's record of 27 successive Aussie Open victories. Instead, the eight-time Slam champ may never go return to Melbourne Park, may never make it to the big dance again, may never get past Connors in the Slam record books.

As he walked off court, the four-times Aussie Champ was given a standing ovation in Rod Laver Arena.
"You never know when it's your last time, right?" Agassi said. "So you want to say bye properly. But you know a year is a long time. I really look forward to coming back." As a player? That’s very doubtful.

All credit should go to Safin, who can now arguably be called the favorite to win this tournament. Sure, Federer and Ferrero are playing tremendously well, but the big Russian has the Big Mo in Big Way.

"To be on the same court as Andre Agassi and to win in five sets after he came back from 2-0 down, it's great," he said. "I came here to try and win it and I'm almost there. I have one match left to go. Everything is going my way…Like I said before ... I'm not coming here just to make a couple of good matches and to lose in like the fourth round. I came here to try to win it, and I'm almost there. Just one left to go … everything is going my way at the moment."

The Stat Box
• The match lasted 3 hours and 42 minutes
• Total points won: Safin 170, Agassi 171
• Winners (including service): Safin 79, Agassi 44
• Aces: Safin 33, Agassi 10
• Double faults: Safin 0, Agassi 2
• Unforced errors: Safin 48, Agassi 33
• Break point conversions: Safin 2 of 7, Agassi 4 of 8
• 1st serve percentage: Safin 55%, Agassi 59%
• Fastest serve: Safin 211KPH, Agassi 171