FRENCH OPEN : Agassi Rolls Past Svensson, Will Meet Gomez in Final

Andre Agassi and Andres Gomez overcame rain and strong winds today in the French Open tennis championships to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

The third-seeded Agassi had an easier time than the score suggested despite dropping a set in his 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over unseeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden.

“He did a good job of beating himself. I had an easy start,” said Agassi, the highest surviving seed.

Gomez, seeded fourth, easily beat seventh-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria, 7-6, 6-1, 7-5, to qualify for Sunday’s final. Agassi and Gomez have met four times, each winning twice.

Agassi, 20, appeared confident about his chances against Gomez.

“I’m not concerned about who I play. I played Gomez a month ago in Key Biscayne, Fla., and things worked fine for me, but it’s going to be a long afternoon.

“I want it pretty bad. I didn’t stay in Paris for two weeks to finish in second place, I’m going out there to win it,” Agassi said after winning in two hours, 27 minutes.

Agassi, whose refusal to wear traditional white on court has incurred the wrath of tennis authorities in Paris, began in style, winning the first three games before Svensson held his serve.

The game was interrupted by rain briefly at the start of the match, but storm clouds held off for the rest of the match.

Agassi then swept the next seven games as he surged into a two-set lead.

Svensson, 23, failed with most of his attempted drop shots but fought back at the end of the second set.

The wind swirled around the center court in the third set, holding the ball up, and the unseeded Swede briefly found his form as Agassi struggled with the conditions.

But the American, ranked fifth in the world, came out confidently in the fourth.

Agassi’s service was far superior to the Swede’s. He did not double-fault at all and 80% of his first serves found the mark, compared with 57% for Svensson.

Svensson admitted the pressure of playing in such a big match had affected his game.

“I was really nervous at the start. His game does not suit me at all. He tracks everything down and hits it back solidly,” he said.

Gomez, who has failed to reach even the semifinals in 26 Grand Slam tournaments, succeeded at last on his favorite surface, clay, winning in less than two hours.

“I gave everything today. I knew the way he was going to play. Maybe people saw Muster as the favorite but I prefer it that way,” he said.

Moving Muster around with smooth strokes and drop shots, Gomez took the first three games in less than 10 minutes.

A rainy spell allowed Muster to regain his composure--and his serve--to close the gap to 3-2, but he lost his serve twice again in the first set.

After that it all proved too much for the Austrian, who lost the next seven games in a row to find himself two sets down in little more than 75 minutes.

The tennis lesson continued in the last set when Muster, broken in the third game, only managed to break back five games later before crashing out on a last passing shot which left him with his head bowed in despair.