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Close rivalry Kafelnikov prepares for 'big battle' with No. 1 Agassi
Posted: Saturday January 29, 2000 12:47 AM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- No. 1 Andre Agassi is the favorite, the first man to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver three decades ago. No. 2 seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the defending champion, has easily pushed aside opponents on the way to the final. The men's title match at the Australian Open Sunday will be a contest between two players at different stages of their careers and with very different styles, on and off the court. What they share is a close rivalry: it will be their tenth meeting, with Agassi leading the series 5-4. The American won their last three matches on hardcourts, so he may have an edge on the Rebound Ace synthetic surface at Melbourne Park. An advantage for the Russian is that he's not expected to win, which could free him up to play loose, dangerous tennis. "Every time we've stepped on the court, we've had a big battle," Kafelnikov said. Agassi is intense, even agitated, throughout a match, often trotting to his courtside chair during changeovers. He rarely seems to relax. In post-match press conferences, he muses about focusing, digging down, pushing himself to his limit. The winner of the 1999 French Open and U.S. Open did all that Thursday with a magnificent five-set victory in the semifinals over Pete Sampras, one of the greatest matches of their long rivalry. In a syndicated newspaper column, John McEnroe expressed awe at Agassi's recent achievements and wrote, "You dream about playing tennis with such confidence, but with an inner calm at the same time." Kafelnikov, a least publicly, leans toward the negative. In Melbourne, he has talked about his rustiness before the tournament and his surprise at surviving the early rounds. He joked about plans to play golf Saturday ahead of the final. Their games reflect their personalities. Kafelnikov's all-court game is so fluid that his strokes look lazy, effortless. He's as comfortable at net as on the baseline. Agassi roams the back court, and he hits unforgiving groundstrokes and service returns with machine-like precision. His serve is much more of a weapon than it used to be. Agassi had a smooth run in Melbourne before his epic against Sampras. Mark Philippoussis was the only opponent who lifted a set off him. Likewise, Kafelnikov has dropped only one set, against Jens Knippschild in the first round. At 29 years old, Agassi is approaching the end of his career, and may be giving it all he has now because of that. Kafelnikov, who is 25 years old, has plenty of tennis ahead.
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