On this day: Andre Agassi edges Andy Roddick in all-American clash
Back in 2004, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick played in the semi-final in front of the home fans in Cincinnati, a usual scene at the American hard-court events in the last 15 years. At that moment, it was hard to predict this would be a penultimate all-American Masters 1000 semi-final, with only one to come in the next 15 seasons, here in Cincinnati when Roddick and Fish battled for the final spot in 2010! The crowd in Ohio had the opportunity to witness a thrilling contest between the veteran and the young gun, with Agassi prevailing 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 in swift two hours and six minutes to advance into the third and last final in Cincinnati, never returning to the Western & Southern Open. Roddick was the better-ranked player (played in the final in Wimbledon and Toronto and won Indianapolis) but Agassi knew how to deal with his serve, beating Andy for the fifth time in six encounters, avenging the third-set tie break loss at Queen's a year earlier.
Roddick unleashed 30 aces and better numbers behind the first serve, losing the edge once he would have missed it and also in the most extended rallies that Agassi tailored to his measures, spraying the rival over the court with deep and precise groundstrokes to draw more than 30 unforced errors from the younger opponent. The veteran lost 19 points behind the initial shot, defending both the first and second serve in a strong way and never facing a break point to attach all the pressure on the other side, the pressure that Andy repelled after saving three out of four break chances, staying in touch until the very last point before settling with the semi-final. Roddick had more winners and also more unforced errors, a usual pattern in their encounters combined with more points for the younger American in the shortest range up to four strokes, mainly thanks to those unreturned serves.
Still, Agassi was the leader of the pack once the rally would reach more dynamic range, forging the advantage in the mid-range and most extended exchanges to cross the finish line and stay on the title course under the guidance of his coach Darren Cahill. The first big moment came in game five when Roddick faced two break points after a double fault and two backhand errors, keeping his focus to fend them off and bring the game home with two booming serves for a 3-2. Serving at 5-5, Andy netted a forehand to give serve away, providing the desired break for Agassi who sealed the opener with three winners for a 7-5 after 38 minutes.
They both held after deuce in games five and six of set number two, staying neck and neck in the remaining games to set up a tie break where Andy grabbed mini-breaks for a 3-0 lead thanks to a couple of unforced errors from Andre. Two service winners sent Roddick 5-0 up, landing an ace down the T line at 6-2 to lock the set and force a decider. At 3-4, Roddick found himself in a little bit of trouble before firing four winners to get out of jail and level the score at 4-4, with the encounter heading into a deciding tie break after another four powerful holds on both sides. The more experienced player won it 7-2 with an ace, celebrating a great win and setting the final clash with Lleyton Hewitt.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2KndGUb
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