Despite dropping a set for the first time so far at this year's Wimbledon, Andre Agassi has made it through to the semi-finals after a 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over French 24th seed Nicolas Escude. The second seed will now face Australian Pat Rafter in the last four for the third consecutive year.
Agassi started well and opened up a 3-1 lead in the first set when he broke Escude's serve in the opening game of the match. However, the Frenchman, who beat Lleyton Hewitt and Sebastien Grosjean to reach the last eight, fought back to level matters after some wonderful attacking play at the net. There was another exchange of breaks before Escude secured the set with a 7-3 win in the tie-break.
However, as the remainder of the match was to prove, the first set was a mere momentary blip in what has been a striking display so far at Wimbledon this year from the 1992 champion. Agassi, noted for his return of serve, looked in dangerous form as he broke Escude's serve four times in the next three sets to take a well-deserved spot in the semi-finals.
Agassi is now very much looking forward to Friday's match but is all too aware that he must raise his game yet again if he is to beat Rafter. " I'm really looking forward to it, I've said many times about Pat that he's a great player, a great competitor and I've had some great matches with him. They're always ones to remember," he said. "Win or lose, you really cherish the opportunity to raise your level at the right time. I'm certainly going to have to do that. He looked really sharp today in some pretty tough conditions."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
