Agassi looks all white in victory

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 | 10:13 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Sporting a ponytail and baggy red shorts, Roger Federer stood in stark contrast to Las Vegan Andre Agassi, who has a shaved head and continued to wear all white at the U.S. Open.

At the beginning of the second set of their fourth-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA's National Tennis Center Monday afternoon, Federer changed from a white shirt to a red one, making it much easier to see who the better player was.

The angelic looking Agassi broke Federer's serve twice at love in the first set and never let up for a mundane 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory that took only an hour and 23 minutes.

"Today, I just absolutely stepped it up in every department, and it was there," Agassi said of his best performance of the tournament. "Closing it out the way I did, I felt great about every part of my game."

The second-seeded Agassi will face fellow American Pete Sampras, a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4 winner over Pat Rafter, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. In other men's action Mariano Zabaleta, playing in his second U.S. Open, advanced to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Xavier Malisse, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Zabaleta will play Marat Safin, a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) winner over Thomas Johansson.

There were no surprises on the women's side as Americans Venus Williams, the fourth seed, and Jennifer Capriati, the second seed, both advanced to the quarterfinals in straight sets. Next up for Williams is Kim Clijsters, a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 winner over Elena Dementieva. Capriati will face Amelie Mauresmo, a 6-0, 6-7 (1), 6-3 win over Nathalie Tauziat.

Agassi looked flawless from the baseline, hitting crisp passing shots, rifling back service returns and making it difficult for Federer to come into the net.

While Agassi was at his best, Federer clearly looked just the opposite. The 20-year-old from Switzerland was erratic on both sides, often spraying balls out or dumping them into the net. He committed 30 unforced errors and made only 47 percent of his first serves.

"He hasn't got that unbelievable serve that you have no chance on, he just backs it up with some unbelievable groundstrokes," Federer said. "You have the feeling he never misses. "Just playing cross-court with him, either forehand or backhand, is just so tough. Second serves, he doesn't miss a return. It was tough."

Sampras completely dominated Rafter in the first two sets by effectively blasting his classic one-handed backhand and putting pressure on Rafter's serve.

The 28-year-old Australian, a two-time U.S. Open champion, finally fought back to take the third set in what may have been his last U.S. Open.

Rafter reiterated the fact that he would be taking time off next year, but refused to say whether he was retiring for good.

"I'm going to take a break," Rafter said. "That's what I know."

Rafter couldn't capitalize on his only two break point opportunities. In contrast, Sampras converted four of 14 break points.

"Not a lot that separates Pat and I, just a couple points here and there," Sampras said. "I definitely set the tone early on with the way I was playing, the way I was returning."

Rafter served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the fourth, but then trailed 15-40. He fought back to deuce before Sampras closed out the match with two consecutive overheads.

Afterward, Sampras let out a yelp, pumped his fists in triumph and ran over to the TV cameras in jubilation.

"It's a huge match playing Pat, who is worthy of a big match, a semifinal or a final out here," Sampras said. "You have to emotionally treat it like a final, at least I did. I've got a lot of respect for Pat and his game."

There will be plenty of emotions when Agassi and Sampras play each other for the 32nd time in their careers. Sampras holds a 17-14 edge, but Agassi has won their last three meetings, including twice this year. Entering the U.S. Open, Agassi has won four titles including the Australian Open and Indian Wells while Sampras is trying for his first win since the 2000 Wimbledon.

"It's going to be a good one," said Sampras, a four-time U.S. Open champion. "It's going to be a classic that we can all remember."

Hustling briskly away from a practice court surrounded by hundreds of fans, Agassi's coach, Brad Gilbert, tried hard on Sunday not to remember last year's U.S. Open when Agassi, burdened with personal problems, lost in the second round.

"Last year doesn't compute," Gilbert said. "It doesn't matter."

Agassi's trainer of 12 years, Gil Reyes, acknowledged that it hurt Agassi, a winner here in 1999 and 1994, to make such a quick exit.

"In the loss, I don't think for one second he took tennis too lightly or for granted," Reyes said. "He just knew that there were things more important.

"When he left here, he realized that if he tended to his personal problems and sorted them out, the sooner he could get back to complete focus on the tennis court. Here he is a year later better and physically stronger."

Now that Agassi is three matches away from winning his second Grand Slam title of the year, he is relishing every moment.

"It all boils down to giving yourself a shot at winning these titles," Agassi said. "This is the last one of the year.

"It's just an opportunity to make a year incredible and have something you'll always keep with you the rest of your life. It's just a thrill."