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Men's final pick
Posted: Saturday September 11, 1999 08:39 PM By Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated SI's Jon Wertheim (men) and Richard Deitsch (women) have picked the outcome of every singles match during the Open. Wertheim's tally entering the ultimate match: 81-45. The final Todd Martin, United States (7) vs. Andre Agassi, United States (2) The skinny: First, let's give Todd Martin his props. The last time he had a chance to advance to the finals of a Grand Slam he squandered a 5-1 lead at Wimbledon in 1996 and lost a heartbreaker to MaliVai Washington. Saturday, fully cognizant that his days on tour are numbered, he efficiently dismembered Cedric Pioline, scoring his first straight-set win of the tournament. All that said, it will take the match of his life to put a capstone on an underrated career by winning the Open. His opponent, a fellow named Agassi, has simply been on autopilot this tournament, taking the ball on the rise, serving uncharacteristically well and playing big points as though they matter. After getting blitzed in the first set by Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Agassi calmly switched gears and rolled to a routine victory. Martin's strength is his return, but that doesn't do him do much good against Agassi. Martin can't serve Agassi off the court, he's not limber enough to attack consistently and he can't stay with Agassi from the baseline. That doesn't leave many options. When Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter pulled out with injuries in the first week, this tournament became Agassi's to lose. Without too many nervous moments, he should fulfill his promise today.
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