[News]All-American semifinal at Siebel Open

看板Agassi作者ouch (沉默的螺旋)時間21年前 (2004/02/14 15:06)推噓1(1推 0噓 0→)

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All-American semifinal at Siebel Open By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer February 14, 2004 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Andre Agassi withstood one of Jan-Michael Gambill's best efforts in months, and in one of Gambill's favorite settings. The thing is, Agassi is even better here. Agassi outlasted his fellow American 7-6 (4), 7-5 in a sensational slugfest Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Siebel Open, a match that featured 31 aces, 45 winners and just as many breathtaking rallies. ``I could have made it a little easier on myself if I'd converted a few of my early chances,'' said Agassi, in the semifinals of this tournament for the 11th time in 12 appearances. ``It was good toe-to-toe tennis, but tougher than I wanted it.'' Both players held serve until Agassi broke in the final game of the match. The 33-year-old Agassi, seeded second and a five-time winner in the Bay area, has beaten Gambill eight straight times dating to Scottsdale in 1999, when Agassi retired in the first set of their semifinal match with a right hamstring strain. Gambill kept the world's No. 3 player off balance with his powerful serve- and-volley game, which led to many quick points on his serve. But Gambill had to go to deuce nine times to win his first three service games, including five deuces in the opening game of the match. The game lasted 16 minutes. Agassi, who beat Gambill in the 2001 semifinals of this tournament, advances to the second semifinal Saturday against Mardy Fish, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Hyung-Taik Lee in the late match Friday. The early semi is between top-seeded Andy Roddick and wild-card entry Robert Kendrick. This is the first all-American semifinal since 1995 -- featuring Agassi, MaliVai Washington, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. Playing Agassi will be new to Fish. ``I've never played with him and I've never hit with him before in my life,'' Fish said. ``Obviously I've seen him play a few times. I'm excited. I'll probably be a little anxious, but I'm going to go out with the attitude I can win.'' Gambill pounded 20 aces to Agassi's 11, and hit 45 winners. Gambill converted 21 of his 27 chances at the net, but missed all five first serves in the tiebreaker. ``I was intense,'' Gambill said. ``I got in a groove where I didn't care what the score was and couldn't care less who was on the other side of the court. Unfortunately, I missed five serves in a row in the tiebreaker. That's the worst. I wasn't more nervous or antsy. I just missed them.'' According to Agassi's assessment, Gambill hit three bad shots: a forehand long, a backhand into the net and a forehand wide on match point. Earlier Friday, Roddick beat Sweden's Joachim Johansson 6-3, 7-6 (7). -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 203.203.34.127