Swiss semifinals set
Agassi gaining confidence as he rolls on
Posted: Friday October 09, 1998 06:06 PM
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Andre Agassi has yet to drop a set in the tournament AP |
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- A confident Andre Agassi continued his dominant play Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors by trampling Sweden's Magnus Gustafsson in straight sets.
Agassi, the only seeded player aside from Britain's Tim Henman to avoid early-round upsets, needed only 77 minutes to crush Gustafsson 6-3, 6-3.
Gustafsson's compatriot Thomas Johansson was more successful, the Swede defeating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-3 in another quarterfinal.
After a nine-minute first game, Agassi took control of the match, breaking Gustafsson's second serve in the opening set with a love game to go up 2-1. Then, leading 5-3 with Gustafsson serving, the American broke again to close out the set.
Agassi continued his dominance in the second set, breaking the Swede's opening serve. However, leading 15-40 at 5-2 on Gustafsson's serve, the American squandered three match points, giving the Swede the game.
But Agassi, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, closed out the match on his next service game.
"Magnus is a really tough opponent," said Agassi, the winner of four tournaments this season. "He's a veteran who knows how to play the big points.
"But my game has seen a lot of improvement and I'm feeling more and more confident. I'm more ready to step up and take control of the match."
Henman defeated Germany's Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-4 and Switzerland's Marc Rosset downed German qualifier David Prinosil 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
In the semifinals, Agassi will face Rosset and Henman will play Johansson.
"The people in Switzerland are going to hate me if I beat three Swiss," joked Agassi, who defeated Swiss players Roger Federer and Ivo Heuberger in the first two rounds. "But when Rosset is on, he's hard to beat.
"He's is a big guy with big serves, and he's not scared to take risks."
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