Andre Agassi (#1) vs. Xavier Malisse (#7) (Semifinals)
Head to Head: Agassi leads series 1-0 (2000 Atlanta, 1R, 6-3, 6-4)
Bright blue skies and pleasant temperatures awaited fans for the first semifinal of the 2002 Franklin
Templeton Tennis Classic. Singer-Actress Cher sang the national anthem prior to the match. No, the
tournament did not score a major coup. The pop diva's performance was on tape and blasted over the PA
system. Cher seemed to be a good choice as she is one person who has had more career comebacks than
Mr. Agassi.
Agassi won the toss and elected to receive. A decision Agassi may have regretted as Malisse won the first
six points of the match. But Agassi turned things around immediately and rattled of the six consecutive
points of his own to start the match on serve at 1-1. Malisse committed three backhand errors to give
Agassi the first break of the day and the early lead. The players held serve over the next several games.
Agassi still was shaking off some of the rust after his three-set match yesterday against Chela, while the
self-admitted perfectionist Malisse seemed to be keeping his sometimes-volatile emotions under control.
Assisted by an Agassi double-fault, Malisse broke back to even the match at 4-4. But Malisse double
faulted on break point in the very next service game to give the American an opportunity to serve for the
set. A 117-mph service winner followed by a crisp forehand winner, earned Agassi the first set 6-4 in 39
minutes.
The crowd cheered as Agassi broke Malisse again in the first game of the second set. But Agassi's lead was
short-lived as he was broken at love in the next game. But despite giving the lead back, Agassi appeared to
be in cruise-control mode through the middle of the set. It was interesting to watch both players in the
backcourt. Agassi sometimes was moving only a foot or two between groundstrokes, while Malisse
seemed to be constantly running from side-to-side. A disastrous seventh game by Malisse settled the set
and the match. The Belgian committed two unforced errors and threw in two double faults to lose his serve
at love and give Agassi a 4-3, one-break lead in the second. Agassi held for 5-3, then the Scottsdale
equivalent of the buzzards circling overhead occurred as the player golf carts arrived at the side of the court
- a sure sign that the end is near. Malisse forced Agassi to serve for the match, but the Las Vegan was up
to task winning his last service game at love to take the match 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 12 minutes. Bows and
kisses from Andre to all four sides of the court and to you.
Agassi looks to capture his fourth Scottsdale title and will be a heavy favorite against either the surprisingly
serve-and-volley Spaniard, Juan Balcells, or the rising German, Rainer Schuettler.