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Cincinnati Proves Vital to Agassi
and Hewitt
Agassi surprises Roddick in classic semifinal
Hewitt shows he can play with the
best … again
By Sandra Harwitt, Special to TennisReporters.net
© Mark Lyons |
| Andre Agassi keeps rollin' along. |
FROM THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN
FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS IN CINCINNATI – Anyone who has written
Andre Agassi off as past his prime should get a tape of his amazing
7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-2) semifinal win over defending champion
Andy Roddick at the TMS-Cincinnati tournament on Saturday night.
It was a classic of major proportion that left Agassi conjuring
up images of another classic match he played in his career –
a four-tiebreak sets quarterfinal against Pete Sampras at the
'01 US Open. That match featured no service breaks and went in
favor of Sampras, but still sent "chills" down Agassi's
back.
This match was equally stupendous according to Agassi; the crowd
was on its feet giving both players constant standing ovations
for points that were breathtaking. And both players spent a great
deal of time applauding the other players winning shots in the
spirit of sportsmanship and appreciation for flawless artistry
with a tennis racket.
"I would just say it's thrilling," said Agassi, who
skipped about the court after the win. "You get a real sense
of – you get a rush of blood, the hair on your body stands
up, which in my case that's a lot of hairs.
The shots that were being hit out there were as good as you see.
So I was appreciating his shots, with most of the crowd."
You could sense that Roddick was too raw to see the beauty in
the two-hour, six-minute thriller until he has some time to let
the disappointment subside. It was a disappointment bolstered
by the fact that he now trails Agassi 5-1 in their career matches.
But despite his dashed hopes of winning the match, Roddick could
say nothing but fabulous comments about Agassi.
RODDICK LAUDS THE OLD MAN
"He played great," Roddick admitted.
"I was hanging on the whole time. He didn't really give me
an open look. There weren't a lot of unforced errors, and that's
as clean as someone's hit the ball against me. So props to him.
If you know one thing, it's not to write Andre Agassi off. You guys
had him written off seven years ago. So, you know, he thrives on
that. I'm disappointed that I lost, but part of me is happy that
he just let his racket do the talking, and it's saying something.
"It's amazing. I can't even imagine myself out here 13 years
from now, you know, competing with the best players in the world.
That just seems, you know, amazingly, farfetched. But it's weird
to think when he started on tour I was three or four, and he's still
out here playing at this level. So, I mean, that's pretty amazing."
Agassi is flying high this week, a feeling that is easy to pick
up by the way he is flitting around the court. Thus far, he's taken
out Mardy Fish in the first round, Thomas Johansson in the second
round, 17th-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round, fourth-seeded
Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals, along with his best success in
upsetting Roddick in the semifinals.
Agassi, however, is not the only one having a glorious time here
in Cincinnati.
Hewitt shows he can play with the best …
again
Lleyton Hewitt, another former world No.
1, is playing top-flight tennis during his efforts to reach the
finals where he will face Agassi.
Hewitt, who has been less than a force since ending the 2001 and
2002 seasons as the No. 1 player in the world, has only lost one
service game in five matches played here. Considering the way Agassi
is playing these days, that's the type of statistic the Australian
needs to be flaunting when he arrives on the court on Sunday.
Hewitt moved into his semifinal with a concise two-set quarterfinal
victory over Marat Safin, and then waltzed past Tommy Robredo of
Spain in straight sets to reach the final.
"I feel like I've been playing pretty good tennis for the last
few months," said Hewitt, who will be hoping to win his third
title of the year. "I think I'm serving well. Yesterday, I
didn't feel like I served great but my second serve held up extremely
well against Marat [Safin in quarterfinals]. Today, I felt like
my first serve came back together and I served well out there."
Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Hewitt is roaring
back. |
But fair or not, the final is
likely to be all about Agassi, the 34-year-old who still has the
ability to at times shine brighter than anyone else currently
playing the game.
If he can bypass Hewitt – the Australian has a slight 4-3
winning edge over him in their career matches – Agassi will
win his first title since taking the US Clay Courts at Houston in
April '03. That last win came 17 tournaments ago and that's a
rather long time for Andre.
The last time Agassi reached a final was last November, when he
lost to Roger Federer in the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. This
year started out quite well for Agassi, who sailed to consecutive
semifinals at the Australian Open, San Jose and Indian Wells,
but a recurring inflamed hip hindered his results since that time.
That is until here in Cincinnati, where he is playing as if he
was 24 instead of 34 and nearing the end of his career.
"It's week to week," said Agassi, of his career at the
moment. "I mean, every day I'm answering questions about
retirement – except for tonight. So that's the life I live
now."
BOTH WILL SKIP OLYMPICS
The truth is that both Agassi and Hewitt
are making a strong case for themselves in terms of their prospects
at the upcoming US Open. Both will be sitting out the Olympic Games,
thereby avoiding a highly-charged, deep-with-stars tournament field
a continent away from Flushing Meadows.
Hewitt only plans on playing Washington,
DC in a couple of weeks before hitting the Open, while Agassi
will play Washington as well as Long Island. But those tournaments
don't hold the weight or drama of the Olympics and these two rejuvenating
players could arrive at the Open as strong contenders.
But before looking down the road to the Open, the two will be
focused on winning here in Cincinnati.
Agassi currently leads the tour with the most titles of any active
player with 58, while Hewitt comes to the final in second place
in that category with 21 singles trophies. Of course, Agassi has
eight Grand Slams to Hewitt's two, which definitely gives the
American the advantage in big matches.
All in all, this is a final where picking the winner is one that
a soothsayer might even stay away from because it's so close.
But either way, the week in Cincinnati will provide both Agassi
and Hewitt with a great deal of confidence as they look towards
the final Grand Slam of the year. |
