By Jeff Agase
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
jagase@media.ucla.edu
The speakers at Los Angeles Tennis Center blared Metallica’s
"Enter Sandman" prior to the Mercedes Benz-Cup semifinal between
Andre Agassi and Max Mirnyi Saturday night. Oh, the irony. Fans who
quickly shuffled out of Stadium Court 61 minutes later might have
been looking for pillows after Agassi’s 6-4, 6-2 dismantling of
Mirnyi. "Andre just played much better tennis than me today,"
Mirnyi said. "That’s the bottom line." Wherever the bottom line
was, Mirnyi’s game was below it by match end. After breaking Agassi
to tie the first set at 1-1, the eighth-seeded Mirnyi fell apart.
His much-vaunted serve became a punching bag for Agassi, and he was
broken at love twice in a row in the second set. "When I broke him
at the end of the first and then right away in the second, he was
behind and felt the pressure of having to really get into the
points on my serve," Agassi said. Agassi’s pinpointed, laser
returns negated Mirnyi’s 125 mile per hour rockets. One stretch in
the second set saw Mirnyi win just one point of 19. "He took shots
at my serve and the ball was coming back faster than it had gone
off my racket," Mirnyi said. "He’s the best player in tennis to
exploit weaknesses, and he showed me what I need to work on." It
was as though the wise old Agassi was giving a private tennis
lesson. Mirnyi did everything but jump the net to shake Agassi’s
hand and thoroughly thank him for dealing him such a lopsided loss.
"I lost to the best player ever to play the game," Mirnyi said.
After coming into the week with a laundry list of questions for
himself and his game, Agassi was visibly satisfied. "I’m happy less
about winning and being in the finals and more about how I’ve done
it," Agassi said. "I’ve gotten a nice variety of opponents that
have tested many aspects of my game. A lot has come together this
weekend." The Mirnyi win was the culmination of a series of
brilliant Agassi performances this week. The tournament’s second
seed and world’s No. 7 player won five of six games in the second
set at love. He will face Jan-Michael Gambill, an upset winner over
fourth seed Andy Roddick, at 1 p.m. Sunday.