U.S. Takes On Germany : Agassi Plays Becker, Courier Meets Stich in Men’s Semifinals

Is this the French Open or the Davis Cup?

It is fairly hard to tell in the men’s singles semifinals, where it’s the United States against Germany, or more specifically, Andre Agassi of Las Vegas against Boris Becker of Leiman, Germany, and Jim Courier of Dade City, Fla., against Michael Stich of Elmshorn, Germany.

The French Open, the world’s greatest clay-court event, is already guaranteed a first-time champion. It will be one of these four who have made it through five matches on the most demanding surface.

A finalist last year when he lost to Andres Gomez, Agassi has reached his third semifinal at Roland Garros Stadium with the same kind of power-stroking that has allowed him to lose only two sets in five matches.

Agassi is 3-3 against Becker and 3-0 in the last two years, but they have never met on clay.

“Playing him on clay would favor me normally, but he has shown that he can play world-class tennis when he wants to,” Agassi said. “I wouldn’t take anything for granted, but I do feel fairly confident.”

Becker stands squarely in Agassi’s path. Although he has won 30 singles titles and five Grand Slam singles titles, Becker has never won a clay-court event and is zealously intent on filling that void in his resume.

Until Stich’s quarterfinal victory Wednesday over Franco Davin, Becker had been the only German since the open era to reach the semifinals here.

Stich, who began the year ranked No. 42, is certain to move into the top 10 from No. 12, but he must be accustomed to breaking new ground. Stich had never been past the third round in a Grand Slam event.

Stich came out of the quarter of the draw hit by Ivan Lendl’s and Jonas B. Svensson’s withdrawals and Pete Sampras’ second-round loss.

So far, Stich has insisted that he keeps in mind only the next match. But now, Stich is looking as far ahead as the final, which may even match up two Germans.

“For sure,” Stich said. “A German final would be great for German tennis.”

Of course, an Agassi-Courier final wouldn’t be too bad for American tennis either. Ninth-seeded Courier, who eliminated top-seeded Stefan Edberg in a four-set quarterfinal, said this would be no place for a letdown against Stich.

“Well, if you can’t get up for a Grand Slam semifinal, you might as well pack it in,” Courier said.

Courier is 2-1 against Stich and won the only time they played on clay, in three sets at Monte Carlo in 1990. “He’s playing great tennis and hits the ball hard off the baseline and has a hard serve,” Courier said.