Andre Agassi, who has looked the player to beat at the Australian Open from the moment he took the first set of his first match 6-0 last Monday, moved up yet another gear in Melbourne today.
The 30-year-old defending champion reached the semi-finals with a total destruction of fellow American Todd Martin, the man who knocked out Pete Sampras in the last round. Agassi won 7-5 6-3 6-4, a score which did not fully reflect how dominant he was, and he said afterwards, "Todd is one of the best servers and returners and you have to be ready and sharp. He played a great game against Pete and I had to be at my best. I was feeling good about how I was hitting the ball and I stayed focused. He does not like to be on the defence so I was trying to move him as much as I could."
Agassi has dropped only one set in the championship so far and said, "I hope I don't have any tough ones. You just try to get through each one and count your blessings along the way." Seeded only sixth for his bid to become the first player to retain the title since Jim Courier in 1993, Agassi had an incredible run in the middle of the match when he took 20 out of 21 points. Ruthless and relentless were the two words which came to mind and Martin did well to recover from the onslaught to go a break up in the third set. But Agassi was having none of that. He broke back in the very next game and when Martin served again Agassi clinched victory on his second match point with a backhand topspin lob on the run which typified his spectacular performance.
Filed by Pat Nugent
