Lendl Finds Groove and Defeats Agassi

Ivan Lendl, getting the most out of his only service break, rallied from the brink of elimination to beat Andre Agassi, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, Friday night and keep alive his bid for a fourth straight Masters title.

Lendl was four points away from losing the match when he fell behind, 3-1, in the tiebreaker. But he fought back for a victory that forces a mad scramble for the semifinal berths in the eight-man, round-robin tournament.

“I think I bring out the best in his game,” said Agassi, who is now 0-3 lifetime against Lendl, including a loss in the U.S. Open semifinals this year. “He doesn’t want to get beat by me.”

Lendl came out on top even though Agassi won more points and more games. In fact, Lendl didn’t have a single break point until the sixth game of the final set, which he won to take a 4-2 lead.

If Lendl had lost, he would have been eliminated from title contention and Agassi would have clinched a semifinal spot with one round-robin match remaining. Now, however, all eight players in the season-ending tournament have a chance to make the semifinals heading into the final day of round-robin competition.

Lendl, Agassi, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Henri Leconte all have 1-1 records, while Jakob Hlasek is 2-0 and Tim Mayotte is 0-2.

Hlasek defeated Mayotte, 7-5, 6-3, in the opening match Friday night. Becker met Leconte in the late match.

Agassi played with machine-like precision in the first set, making only three unforced errors even though he was blasting the ball on almost every shot.

But Lendl found his rhythm in the second set and started winning his share of the baseline rallies that both players prefer.

Agassi, who has moved up to No. 3 in the world this year, had three break points in the fourth game but Lendl saved them all and held with a service winner and an ace.

Lendl showed his resilience again in the tiebreaker when he rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the set. He closed out his six-point run with an ace, one of 12 he served in the match.

Hlasek, who upset Lendl Thursday night, continued his recent hot streak by beating Mayotte in 67 minutes.