|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Still perfect Agassi moves to 3-0 at ATP World Championship
Posted: Friday November 26, 1999 05:00 PM
HANOVER, Germany (AP) -- Top-ranked Andre Agassi became the first player to advance to the semifinals of the ATP Tour World Championship by beating Gustavo Kuerten 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday. Agassi advanced to the last four without dropping a set in his three Red Group matches. Kuerten, a Brazilian ranked No. 3 in the world, was the first player to break Agassi's serve in the tournament, but in the end the American had too much precision and power for the former French Open champion. The Red Group will be decided Friday, when Pete Sampras plays Nicolas Lapentti. Kuerten, 1-2, could theoretically still advance. Sampras is 1-1 and Lapentti is 0-2. In the White Group, Nicolas Kiefer beat Todd Martin 6-3, 6-2 to stay alive and Yevgeny Kafelnikov picked up his second victory by outlasting Thomas Enqvist. Kafelnikov, No. 2 in the world, raised his record to 2-0 after beating Enqvist 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, while the fourth-ranked Enqvist dropped to 1-1. Because of the round-robin format, all four were still in the running for the two semifinals places. Kiefer is now 1-1 and Martin fell to 0-2. The group will be decided Friday. The $3.6 million season-ending tournament brings together the top eight players in the world, who are split into two groups. The top two from each pool advance to the last four. After his victory, Agassi received the ATP Tour trophy for finishing the year as No. 1. Agassi is assured of staying No. 1 for the year even if he fails to win the event. "It symbolized a lot for me professionally and personally," Agassi said after receiving the glass trophy. "It's a big accomplishment for me." Agassi seized the No. 1 ranking after winning the French Open and the U.S. Open this summer. Kafelnikov broke the Swede's serve for a 2-0 lead in the final set, only to drop his own serve in the seventh game.
But Enqvist was unable to use his opportunity and faced two match point on his serve in the 10th game. He saved the first with the help of a net cord that forced Kafelnikov into a forehand error and fired a service winner on the second. Kafelnikov, who overcame 18 aces by Enqvist, set up his third match point with a passing shot and then saw Enqvist's backhand sail into the net. The outcome was a repeat of the Australian Open final, when Kafelnikov also won, in four sets. Enqvist has risen to a career-high No. 4 in the world, after winning the Eurocard Open in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Stockholm Open in his homeland in the run-up to Hanover. "You can't play good every day," Enqvist said. "I was not having the timing today I had the last couple of months." Kiefer delighted the home crowd by rolling over Martin, the U.S. Open finalist, and No. 7 in the world in 70 minutes. The sixth-ranked Kiefer broke Martin's serve once in the first set and twice more in the second and finished the match with an ace. Kafelnikov thought the Agassi and Sampras were getting too much attention at the expense of other players. Afer their showdown Wednesday, which Agassi won, the two Americans said they considered themselves the best players in the world. "You have to realize that it's not only a show between Pete and Andre anymore," the Russian said. "There are some other guys who also have big names. I don't include only myself, there are guys like Enqvist and Gustavo Kuerten." Kafelnikov paid tribute to the achievements of Agassi and Sampras.
"But there is also some other guys," he sad.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
