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Andre Agassi heads to Pacific semis
Andre Agassi came up with the big points when he needed to, beating Guillermo Coria 6-4, 7-5 Thursday night to move into the Pacific Life Open semifinals. Agassi, ranked fifth, will play No. 1 Roger Federer on Saturday.
Federer defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-1 in their quarterfinal to run his 2004 record to 20-1.
The Swiss star beat Agassi 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in their last meeting, at the Tennis Masters Cup final last November.
Agassi, who turns 34 next month, was impressive against Coria, a 22-year-old Argentine ranked No. 4.
Agassi, who beat Pete Sampras to win the Indian Wells title in 2001, broke Coria's serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 edge, then won the first set with a 117-mph ace and a forehand winner down the line for the final two points.
He broke Coria again in the 11th game of the second set, then served out for the victory.
Afterward, Agassi bowed while the crowd chanted "Andre! Andre!"
Federer has lost only 15 games in four matches at Indian Wells. He has been broken just once the entire tournament, in the third game of the first set against Chela.
In the women's competition, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne avenged her only loss of the year by winning another tough match against Russian teenager Svetlana Kuznetsova.
When Henin-Hardenne wrapped up a 6-4, 7-5 victory in her quarterfinal match, the Belgian star clinched both fists and pumped her arms a bit as if to say, "Yeah!"
It was the fourth meeting between the two this year.
The victory sends Henin-Hardenne, who has won three times this year, into the semifinals against Anastasia Myskina.
Kuznetsova, the 18-year-old daughter of cycling coach Alexandr Kuznetsova, had upset Henin-Hardenne in the semifinals at Qatar in three sets earlier this month, and she didn't go quietly in the rematch.
"I got a little revenge. It made me a little bit nervous because I know how well she's playing," Henin-Hardenne said. "I was nervous a little bit ¡ª no, a lot ¡ª this morning when I woke up because she's the only player that beat me this year."
Myskina, 22, outlasted 31-year-old Conchita Martinez 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-3 in their quarterfinal.
Lindsay Davenport faces Nathalie Dechy in Friday's other semifinal. Both the women's and men's finals are on Sunday.
Henin-Hardenne started fast and built a 4-0 lead before Kuznetsova began winning points by driving her powerful forehand to Henin-Hardenne's backhand. The 14th-ranked Kuznetsova narrowed the gap to 5-4 before she lost the final two points of the set by hitting consecutive forehands long. The St. Petersburg native then built a 5-4 lead in the second set and had double set point in the 10th game before Henin-Hardenne began to fight her way back. That game went to deuce four times and featured several long, well-played rallies from the baseline, but Henin-Hardenne finally ended it with a deep forehand winner, then a 98-mph serve that Kuznetsova couldn't handle. Henin-Hardenne, 21, went on to win the next two games, keeping Kuznetsova scrambling from side to side until she finally hit the ball out or into the net. In the first match between the two this year, Henin-Hardenne won 6-2, 7-5 in the third round on her way to the Australian Open (news - web sites) championship, her third Grand Slam title. She beat Kuznetsova again in the final at Dubai, 7-6 (3), 6-3. |
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