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Agassi wins Legg Mason, secures No. 2 ranking

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Posted: Sunday August 22, 1999 07:51 PM

Agassi feels he is playing particularly well heading into the U.S. Open. AP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Andre Agassi retained his title at Washington's Legg Mason Classic by overcoming top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, ensuring he would be ranked number two from Monday and be seeded second behind Pete Sampras at the upcoming U.S. Open.

The final Grand Slam of the year begins in New York on Monday, August 30.

The victory earned Agassi $99,000 and avenged a defeat just two weeks ago in Montreal. It was his fifth final of the year, and gave him a third title to add to those won at the French Open and in Hong Kong.

The first set was as tight as it gets, with Agassi breaking to lead 2-1 but then dropping his serve for the first time in the tournament in the next game. The Russian held off two break points at 2-2 before the match moved to a tiebreaker.

It was Agassi who then took control, forcing an error from Kafelnikov after a long rally to lead 5-3, and a poor backhand from Kafelnikov gave Agassi three set points.

"That first set just boiled down to one point in particular," said Agassi. "He was serving at 3-4 and hit a short ball and I guessed right and made a difficult volley for him. Going up 5-3 after a long-winded point, and then he made a careless error at 3-5, which can happen, and I managed to serve it out. That seemed to be a big momentum change there."

It was enough to discourage Kafelnikov, who had complained of fatigue earlier in the tournament as he played his fourth straight week.

After holding off a break point with an ace in the opening game of the second set, Agassi jumped to a 5-0 lead, and was unconcerned as Kafelnikov made a late flourish and held two break points in the final game.

"I felt like I had my chances," said Kafelnikov. "I had a break point at the beginning of the second set and if I would have capitalized it might have been a different story. But he came up with the big shots at the right time and that's what made the difference."

Despite his defeat, Kafelnikov is satisfied with the state of his game. He also insists he will be fresh enough for the Open, although he is also playing in Long Island this coming week.

"Right now I feel that all aspects of my game are working, and I think I'll be fresh enough for the US Open," he insisted.

Agassi's fifth Washington title was just the boost he needed as the Open approaches.

"The quality of tennis gives me a lot of confidence," said Agassi. "We were both playing well, and I couldn't be more confident going into the Open. Everything is right where it should be and I'll take a few days off and make sure I've recovered mentally and physically, and then pick it up slowly in the beginning of the week."

 

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