Andre Agassi, Through to the Australian Open Final
Andre Agassi has reached the final of the Australian Open after a thrilling five-set win over former world number one Pete Sampras in Melbourne. Top seed Agassi took the first set 6-4, but his American compatriot battled back to take the next two sets 6-3 7-6 (7-0). Agassi levelled the match after taking the fourth set on a tiebreak and then broke Sampras twice to win 6-1. He will now meet either defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia or Sweden's Magnus Norman, who meet in the other semi-final tomorrow. In the womens semi-finals, Martina Hingis beat Conchita Martinez and Lindsay Davenport ended the run of Jennifer Capriati.
Hingis remained on course for a fourth straight Australian Open title when beating Martinez 6-3 6-2 in their semi-final. The world number one will now meet Wimbledon champion Davenport in the final after the second seed ended Jennifer Capriati's fairytale run with a hard-fought 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory. Hingis broke her 10th-seeded opponent in the fourth game, dropped her own serve in the seventh but broke back again in the eighth to take the first set in 32 minutes.
The top seed then won the first four games in the second set before Martinez held serve at the third attempt. The next three games went to serve with Hingis serving out for the match. "I started slow but as she let me into the game and I got into my rhythm I had few problems," Hingis added. This makes 27 unbeaten singles matches at Melbourne Park for the 19-year-old.
After a lopsided first set of just 23 minutes, Capriati rallied to take her match to Davenport breaking her service three times, but also dropping her own on three occasions after a series of ferocious backcourt rallies. Capriati, drenched in sweat, thrilled the crowd with her aggressive volleying but could not cope with Davenport's power hitting in the tiebreak. Davenport is unbeaten in her major finals, beating Hingis at the 1998 US Open and downing seven-time champion Steffi Graf at last year's Wimbledon.
In sad news today, tennis legend Don Budge has passed away aged 84. He died of heart failure, five weeks after suffering a broken leg and other injuries in a car accident. In 1938 Budge became the first man to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year, a feat achieved by only one other man, Australia's Rod Laver. He led the United States to two Davis Cup titles, in 1937 and 1938.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ilie Nastase will be joining John McEnroe at the Tournament of Champions which takes place at The Point, Dublin, from the 17th to the 20th of February. Nastase, McEnroe and fellow legend Bjorn Borg will be the star attractions and they will be up against another ex-Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash as well as French Open runner-up and crowd favourite Henri Leconte.
