Agassi Does It Again!!!
September 1st 2006 06:36
Andre Agassi has, once again, toughed out lengthy match to keep his hopes of a 3rd US Open title alive. He was the sentimental favourite going into the match but would need a big effort to physically match his opponent, the 21 year old, No. 8 seed, Marcos Baghdatis. In a time of 3 hours and 48 minutes he miraculously held on to win 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5.
When the players took the court, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, Baghdatis to serve. His very first serve was a fault and the crowd almost erupted. American reporter Howard Fendrich, noted that “a fan in the upper deck yelled: "Andre, this is your house! And it's all of us against him!"
No pressure, huh Andrei?
After his gruelling first round match, Agassi was struggling with crippling pain in his lower back. A short visit to the hospital and a cortisone injection later, saw Agassi bouncing energetically around the court. The first 2 sets were pretty standard and saw Agassi take an early two love lead. If statistics were anything to go by, on the 58 occasions that Agassi has held a 2 set to love lead at the Open, he has never lost a match. The Cypriot managed to take the 3rd set comfortably and came back from 4-0 down in the forth set, breaking Agassi 3 times to force a fifth set.
In the fifth, Agassi’s concentration wavered for a moment, missing some standard backhands to go down a break in the first game. Play was then stopped as Baghdatis received medical treatment for cramps in his thighs. Down a break in the fifth set of, possibly, his last ever match as a pro, Agassi seemed incredibly calm as he waited patiently for his opponent to return. The crowd again rose, chanting his name and spurring their champion on. He came out firing when play resumed and immediately broke back. Agassi played for his life for the rest of that set, chasing down anything he could get a racket on. He took the final set 7-5 in front of a roaring crowd.
His amazing run will continue when he faces 112th ranked Benjamin Becker, a rising star from Germany who scored a convincing win over the No.30 seed Sebastion Grosjean. Should he succeed there, Roddick looms as his next big obstacle.
Marcos Baghdatis was well aware that he would be up against it to get any support from the crowd that night.
“Sure, I’m the bad guy for tonight” he said with a smile.
Ciao
When the players took the court, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, Baghdatis to serve. His very first serve was a fault and the crowd almost erupted. American reporter Howard Fendrich, noted that “a fan in the upper deck yelled: "Andre, this is your house! And it's all of us against him!"
After his gruelling first round match, Agassi was struggling with crippling pain in his lower back. A short visit to the hospital and a cortisone injection later, saw Agassi bouncing energetically around the court. The first 2 sets were pretty standard and saw Agassi take an early two love lead. If statistics were anything to go by, on the 58 occasions that Agassi has held a 2 set to love lead at the Open, he has never lost a match. The Cypriot managed to take the 3rd set comfortably and came back from 4-0 down in the forth set, breaking Agassi 3 times to force a fifth set.
In the fifth, Agassi’s concentration wavered for a moment, missing some standard backhands to go down a break in the first game. Play was then stopped as Baghdatis received medical treatment for cramps in his thighs. Down a break in the fifth set of, possibly, his last ever match as a pro, Agassi seemed incredibly calm as he waited patiently for his opponent to return. The crowd again rose, chanting his name and spurring their champion on. He came out firing when play resumed and immediately broke back. Agassi played for his life for the rest of that set, chasing down anything he could get a racket on. He took the final set 7-5 in front of a roaring crowd.
His amazing run will continue when he faces 112th ranked Benjamin Becker, a rising star from Germany who scored a convincing win over the No.30 seed Sebastion Grosjean. Should he succeed there, Roddick looms as his next big obstacle.
Marcos Baghdatis was well aware that he would be up against it to get any support from the crowd that night.
“Sure, I’m the bad guy for tonight” he said with a smile.
Ciao
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