U.S. Handsome, Sabatini Stunning : Men: Agassi rallies to knock out Becker after losing classic tiebreaker. Sampras finishes off McEnroe and can become youngest winner today.

A new generation of American tennis boom babies, all grown up and bursting with power, pulled a coup at the U.S. Open.

Pete Sampras, bidding to become the youngest U.S. men’s champion in history, ended John McEnroe’s summer revival, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, Saturday to reach the final against Andre Agassi, who vanquished defending champion Boris Becker.

Sampras, leaping like Michael Jordan on a dunk shot during two overheads, disposed of McEnroe, the four-time champ, even more easily than he beat three-time champion Ivan Lendl in the quarterfinals.

Smooth and composed under pressure, ignoring a crowd cheering wildly for McEnroe on a chilly, breezy evening, Sampras displayed a huge serve, solid ground strokes and touch at the net.

Agassi was simply relentless and overpowering, coming back from a loss in a classic tiebreaker in the first set to beat Becker, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and reach the final for the first time.

No shots in the tournament, though, were more impressive than Sampras’ basketball-style smashes in the third set, both legs three feet off the ground and his racket high overhead as he creamed McEnroe’s short lobs.

McEnroe, 31 and struggling to reach his first Open final since 1985, won that set, breaking Sampras for only the second time in the match in eighth game, but Sampras’ legs had plenty of spring to carry him through in the fourth.

Sampras opened and closed the fourth set with aces--he had 17 altogether, plus 21 service winners--and wore McEnroe down with hustle and slick net play. Leading 3-2, Sampras won the first point on McEnroe’s service in the sixth game by running down a forehand half-volley and sending a backhand screaming down the line that McEnroe could only stare at.

McEnroe saved three game points before Sampras cashed in on the fourth, a backhand return that whizzed by McEnroe.

If Sampras, of Rancho Palos Verdes, beats Agassi, he would be the youngest U.S. men’s champion, at 19 years, 28 days, replacing Oliver S. Campbell, who won the title 100 years ago at 19 years, 6 months, 9 days.

No longer will anyone question Agassi’s courage on the court. Forget the notion that he quits when he’s down, that he’s all fluff and cute stuff and can’t handle the pressure.

Agassi played the gutsiest and finest match of his life against Becker.

Agassi, 20, came to play, shorn of beard but colorful as ever in his neon green duds, blond-streaked hair and dangling earring. He didn’t curse and he didn’t spit, as he did when he began this tournament. Instead, he pounded and pounded until Becker relented.

In a match that will rank among the best in U.S. Open history, Agassi blended spectacular shots with consistency to assure the first all-American final here since 1979 when McEnroe beat Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1984, McEnroe became the last American to win here when he won his fourth title.

Starting in a swirling wind on a bright, slightly chilled day, Agassi and Becker exchanged breaks in the first two games. Becker gave a hint of his troubles to come when his first serve sailed long by 10 feet and his second floated beyond the baseline for a double fault.

Agassi settled down to hold his next two services at love, and gave up only four points in five services in the first set. But he couldn’t break Becker, despite pushing him to deuce four times in the 10th game and reaching set point twice.

Agassi made the shot of the match on the first point of the 12th game when he spun right, then left, a 360-degree reversal to hit a backhand. Becker, shocked at the shot, came in and netted a forehand volley. Becker recovered to take the game after saving a second set point and the two went at it in the tiebreaker.

Agassi kept the pressure up and got two more set points at 6-4 in the tie-break after Becker’s backhand down the line missed by inches. But again Becker fought back, winning the next three points to go up 7-6, the first of his four set points.

The match was just over an hour old, but already it was evident that Agassi and Becker were engaged in something special. They exchanged dozens of ground strokes, refusing to let up on power for the sake of safety.

Becker fell behind at 9-8, the third set point against him in the tiebreaker and the fifth in the set, when another forehand missed by an inch. Finally, Becker captured the set with a forehand cross-court into an open court after Agassi chased a backhand the other way.

“I don’t think I ever played a set like that,” Becker said. “Every point was tough and good. It was unbelievable tennis. The kind of tennis we played in the first set is better than any other tennis. I was hoping he would go down after that.”

Asked whether he though Agassi would have folded after losing that kind of set in the past, Becker said, “Probably.”

Agassi acknowledged that losing the first set was “a very depressing feeling.”

“I knew it was a question of who would have the right frame of mind at that point,” Agassi said. “If he was going to beat me, he was going to have to work hard to do it.’

He also said he wouldn’t have come back in the past after such a loss.

“A year or so ago, I would have had to win the first set to win the match,” he said. “Last year I was on stadium court with Lendl, and the whole thing was bigger than me. He could have given me a set lead, and four serves in set two, and I still wouldn’t have beat him.”

This time, though, Agassi was stronger and more confident. He didn’t pout or blow up. Instead, he kept up his relentless assault, clobbering the ball with all his might and keeping the pressure on Becker. And Becker, for all his experience, cracked first.

“There were so many set points in the first set, I knew it was on his mind that he planned to play so hard to beat me,” Agassi said. “I said to myself I have to keep up the level of intensity. I was really working on his mind. There were a lot of close line calls and he’s been edgy all week. It was just a question of me playing my tennis.”

Agassi, who lost in the French Open final to Andres Gomez in June, viewed the victory as a turning point in his career, both in the way he plays and the way people react to him.

“No question it’s done a lot for me and how people are going to perceive me,” he said. “It was not my concern going out there, or for tomorrow, but I think the world will start thinking I can do it.”