KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Andre Agassi will renew his rivalry
with Patrick Rafter in Saturday's semifinal (4:30 p.m. ET ESPN2) at the Ericsson Open.
|  | | Andre Agassi rallied to beat Ivan Ljubicic, staying on course for a possible fourth Ericsson title. |
Agassi regrouped during an overnight rain delay and rallied
Friday to beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
The No. 3-seeded Agassi has won eight of 12 matches against No.
8 Rafter, including their most recent meeting en route to his
Australian Open title in January.
"Our history goes to show it is a good matchup," Agassi said.
"You get to see incredible tennis played from all different parts
of the court. Rafter is about the only serve-and-volleyer left and
he does it with such style, it leads to some great exchanges."
The other finalist will be American Jan-Michael Gambill, who
advanced by beating No. 7 Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 6-4.
"I've been playing some good tennis," boasted Gambill,
after avenging a quarterfinal loss to Hewitt at last year's
Ericsson. "I've played some good tennis in the past but haven't
been able to put it together tournament by tournament."
Agassi trailed Ljubicic 3-1 when a thunderstorm halted play
Thursday night. The match resumed 18 hours later, and after
Agassi's deficit reached 4-1, he won the next five games to pull
out the set.
"I was a little concerned with how I felt coming out last
night, and not knowing Ljubicic's game," Agassi said. "I got it
together today and executed my shots well."
The turning point came with Ljubicic serving at 4-4, 30-30, when
he ended a 27-shot rally by pulling a forehand wide. The 6-foot-4
Croat then blew an easy overhead to lose the game, and Agassi
served out the set with the help of a 123-mph ace.
Agassi broke at love for a 2-1 lead in the second set, then held
the rest of the way and completed the victory with a 105-mph ace.
"Last night I think I saw him not 100-percent concentrating,"
Ljubicic said. "He didn't do the same thing today. That's bad luck
for me."
Ljubicic was the first lucky loser to reach the Key Biscayne
quarterfinals. He lost in qualifying and had already bought a plane
ticket home to Croatia when he made the draw because Richard
Krajicek pulled out just before the tournament started.
Agassi, playing perhaps as well as ever this year, won the
Indian Wells championship two weeks ago and is bidding for his
fourth Key Biscayne title.
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ALSO SEE
Rafter defeats Federer to reach semifinals
Friday's results
Capriati quietly reaches first Ericsson final
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