KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Andre Agassi reached his second consecutive Tennis Masters Series final with his semifinal victory against Patrick Rafter 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-2 at the Ericsson Open on Saturday.
|  | | After beating Patrick Rafter in the semifinals, Andre Agassi thanks the fans for their support.
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Agassi will be a heavy favorite to win his fourth Key Biscayne
title Sunday. But fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill, 23, has won 12 of his past 13 matches
and will crack the top 10 for the first time Monday.
"It means a lot to American tennis to have young players
playing so well like Jan-Mike," Agassi said. "For me it's great
before the match, and it's great after the match. But during the
match, there is no nationality."
Agassi, off to perhaps the best start of his career this year,
took a one-set lead on Rafter in 17 minutes and feasted on the
Australian's second serve throughout the match.
"He was on fire at the beginning," Rafter said. "He made me
play all the tough shots, and he made the passes and winners
whenever he needed to."
Rafter didn't let the lopsided lead bother him as he took an early lead in the second set at 4-1.
Then Agassi started making a comeback. Tied at 5-5, Rafter served back-to-back aces to hold on. In the tiebreak, Agassi only won one point with Rafter double-faulting to give him the other.
Agassi took back control to easily win the third set and the match.
Agassi will be looking to win his second consecutive Tennis Masters Series final after winning at Indian Wells two weeks
ago. Agassi and Gambill have always met on hard courts and Agassi leads the series 5-2.
Gambill, the 19th seed from the United States, defeated
seventh-seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in Friday's semifinal.
First prize for the men is $3.4 million. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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Saturday's results
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