It’s been said his career has come to a close. But Andre
Agassi put up a fight Friday night to convince any spectator
otherwise.
He still fell to Germany’s Tommy Haas ““ 7-6 (5), 6-7
(6), 6-3 ““ but was clearly the crowd’s favorite at the
quarterfinals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup, receiving multiple standing
ovations, including one as he departed the court after Haas
advanced to the semis.
“It still hurts just as bad,” Agassi said of the
loss. “It just doesn’t last as long.”
The pain of defeat might not last long, but the match itself
certainly did: two and a half hours of serve-and-volleying, long
ground stroke rallies and a fair amount of aces for each. It all
amounted to a high-quality and highly emotional three-set
match.
When asked about Haas’ near-perfect ground strokes and the
German’s ability to return Agassi’s shots in a
controlled yet strong manner, Agassi quipped that the reporter was
describing the water he was drowning in.
“I played pretty well but not well enough,” he
said.
The first set appeared to belong to Agassi, as he came to the
court with confidence and quickly built a 5-1 lead. But Haas soon
found his way back into the game, winning five consecutive games
and breaking Agassi’s serve twice to take the lead at
6-5.
But the crowd began to show its preference for Agassi, cheering
during the break, and Haas hit two ground strokes long in the next
game, which Agassi won to force a tiebreaker.
Haas’ ability to put consecutive points under his belt was
indomitable, though, as he took the tiebreaker under his control at
1-2, winning five consecutive points and ultimately taking the game
7-5 with a service ace.
Agassi and Haas traded games in the second set until Agassi
fought off match points to square the set at 6-6, to which he was
regaled with cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd. Points
again were traded in the tiebreaker, but Agassi proved why he has a
spot with the greatest tennis players in all of history as he
rebounded ““ from a Haas crosscourt backhand Agassi only could
watch zoom by him ““ to pull ahead at 6-6 in the tiebreaker
and win by two.
Haas, though, wasn’t broken by the missed opportunity in
the least, taking control of the third set 3-2. Agassi squeezed in
one more game to make the score 3-5, causing the crowd to rise and
chant “Andre” repeatedly. But Haas was on an
unbreakable roll, and Agassi’s fate seemed already sealed,
despite the crowd’s apparent desire to see otherwise.
“I looked up to Agassi since I was a little boy,”
Haas said. “This victory is right up there with my greatest.
“¦ Beating Andre is always high quality.
“This is a very big victory for me and something I will
always cherish.”
Haas advances to play Cyril Saulnier in the semifinals of the
tournament today.