French Open champion and second seed Andre Agassi advanced to the US Open semi-finals by defeating Frenchman Nicolas Escude 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4 at Flushing Meadows. By beating the first qualifier to reach a US Open quarter-final, Agassi booked a Saturday showdown with Australian Open winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
That meeting will decide who replaces Pete Sampras as world number one as well as who plays for the Grand Slam crown. But it wasn't plain sailing for the Las Vegan - he had just one break point in the opening set, which he failed to convert, but gave himself some breathing room with the tiebreak win.
‘It took me a while to get the feel for his style’, Agassi said. ‘I was second-guessing his swings, not reading his serve. I did what I needed to do today’, he added. ‘It's going to take more than that to win a tournament of this magnitude. I'm going to have to step it up’.
Kafelnikov overcame a record 48-ace barrage by Richard Krajicek, taking one of his greatest triumphs despite breaking the Dutchman only once in five sets. The Russian captured a 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 1-6 7-6 (7-5) victory that ranks with his 1996 French Open and this January's Melbourne triumphs as the best of his career.
‘That match stands together with the matches I have played in the Grand Slam finals. That's a big effort to beat a player like Richard’, Kafelnikov said. ‘I didn't think it was going to be as exciting as it was’.
Todd Martin has not got the strength to win the US Open - according to his beaten fourth-round opponent, British number two Greg Rusedski. The American is on the verge of his first Grand Slam semi-final in five years, if he can fend off exhaustion and 95th-ranked Czech Slava Dosedel.
The 29-year-old rallied from the brink of defeat, at two sets down, to beat
Rusedski, winning 18 points in a row and 20 of the final 21 to oust the ninth seed 5-7 0-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 6-4. Martin faces Dosedel in today's quarter-final with doctors checking him carefully after two days of taking intravenous fluids.
‘I feel better than I thought I would’, Martin said. ‘I'm fatigued, obviously. But if I'm able to win I get another day of rest and we'll see what happens. Doctors seem pretty optimistic about my health improving’.
Rusedski said a title is beyond Martin's reach and the seventh seed even admitted: Greg may be right.
‘He's struggling too much physically’, Rusedski said. ‘Five-set match in
the first round, five-set match with me, it's difficult to go out and win a Slam like that. He's not like a physical animal. He's a great player and will give 100%. But it's going to be difficult’.
Martin's only Grand Slam final was at the 1994 Australian Open, where he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets. His other top Slam results were semi-final losses here and at Wimbledon in 1994.
Martin rated the reversal of Rusedski among his greatest triumphs. ‘It was a rewarding victory because I beat a great player and my back was against the wall’, he said. ‘I'm just proud to be able to have matches like that. Greg should hold his head high. He played well and gave himself a chance to win. Unfortunately he didn't make the right shots at the right time’.
