Adieu Agassi

Ferrero, Correjta advance to seminfinals

Andre Agassi had 87 unforced errors. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

PARIS (AP) - "Aaaahh!"

Andre Agassi let out a primal scream, his frustration spilling over as one of his 87 unforced errors hastened his exit from the French Open on Thursday.

The 1999 Roland Garros champion even mocked one of his own shots, waving his arms and doing a curtsy during a four-set, quarterfinal loss to a Juan Carlos Ferrero.

While Ferrero earned his third straight Roland Garros semifinal, Agassi is headed home after he was beaten 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 by a player 10 years younger, one who used to watch him on TV.

At age 32, Agassi completed a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros three years ago and knows that even though he's plenty fit enough to stay with the 20-somethings, time is not in his favor.

"I suppose for me this one has always been the most difficult to win and I felt like I was here giving myself a chance," Agassi said.

"I think you get more aware of it as you get older. But I still like my game in most scenarios out there."

Ferrero, who slugs the ball from both sides and relishes the marathon rallies produced by clay court tennis, moves on face No. 2-seeded Marat Safin.

Ferrero has shown little sign of an ankle injury he got while practicing early in the tournament, and a pinched nerve in Safin's back has not prevented him from playing well, either.

Safin did some heavy hitting of his own, eliminating French favorite Sebastien Grosjean, who was bothered by a sore left leg and fell 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

"Even me, I was impressed with my game," Safin said.

Grosjean had 65 unforced errors, 30 more than Safin.

In the other semifinal, Albert Costa faces countryman Alex Corretja, giving Spain three players in the final four.

Corretja advanced by completing a 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-5 victory over a weary Andrei Pavel, who had more important things on his mind.

Corretja, twice a finalist, won three straight games to capture a match that was initially suspended Tuesday night by darkness and held up again by rain on Wednesday.

Pavel drove eight hours through the rain Wednesday to Germany for the birth of his son -- getting there 90 minutes too late -- and then turned around after two hours and came back to Paris.

He arrived at Roland Garros around 5 a.m., and got just three hours sleep, the final two on a couch in the players' lounge.

Ferrero's victory was also a continuation of a match finally rained out Wednesday after 6 1/2 hours of delays. Ferrero led 6-3, 1-0 but Agassi stormed back to take the second set and then let several chances get away in the third.

With it tied 5-5, Agassi squandered three break points in the 11th game. Ferrero then broke to win the set when Agassi hit a backhand wide, double-faulted and sailed a forehand long on the final three points.

"I'm not a gazelle out there running down shots one after another," Agassi said.

"Heavy conditions favor the guy who moves better and gets more off his racket. And on this surface, it's in Ferrero's hands."

Ferrero, a loser to champion Gustavo Kuerten in the semifinals the last two years, is among the parade of younger generation players challenging Agassi, who had been the oldest remaining player in the draw.

"I used to watch him on television when he played against (Pete) Sampras," Ferrero said. "I always thought one day I would play against him. The time finally came."

 

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