WIMBLEDON : Another Team USA Takes Centre Stage : Men: Agassi outlasts Becker and McEnroe defeats Forget in straight sets to join Sampras in the semifinals.

Can you picture this? Either Andre Agassi or John McEnroe is going to be in the men’s final Sunday at Wimbledon.

Right now, they are locking up the silverware in the Tea Room. The green jackets that run the All England Club probably would rather turn gophers loose on the grass of Centre Court than one of those two.

So it was on a historic Thursday on the most hallowed turf in tennis, where Agassi, in a bit of business held over from Wednesday because of rain, stamped “Return to sender!” all over Boris Becker’s serves and packed him off to the sidelines.

And McEnroe, the three-time Wimbledon champion they hated to love, completed his rain-delayed dismantling of Guy Forget, 6-2, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3, then revealed what he thought of his chances to win a fourth:

“Obviously, it would be unbelievable.”

So was the way he saved six set points in the second-set tiebreaker, and how Forget gagged on the mother of all backhands on one of the set points when the French left-hander wound up and hit the ball far out of bounds.

Agassi dispatched the tormented Becker, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and called it “probably one of the greatest achievements of my career, for sure.”

By midafternoon, the men’s semifinals scheduled for today at Wimbledon had taken on a red, white and blue look. Three of the four players remaining are Americans, the first time in 10 years that has occurred here.

McEnroe, who also was involved in the mix in 1982 with eventual champion Jimmy Connors and Tim Mayotte, must contend with Agassi’s powerful return of serve in one semifinal.

In the other, California-raised Florida resident Pete Sampras will match his serve against the biggest basher of them all, Goran Ivanisevic. This one is not for the faint of heart.

But for sheer spectacle, Agassi-McEnroe is loaded with potential. Actually, it has the look of the perfect semifinal match. Agassi can wear his new line of Wimbledon clothing, and McEnroe can complain about it.

Just as he has the entire tournament, Agassi dressed in an all-white ensemble, complete with baseball cap, and looked like the guy who showed up to paint your house.

Agassi also maintained his strange hold on Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion. Agassi’s sixth consecutive victory over Becker was his first on grass, which has belonged to Becker since 1985.

Becker has been nearly invincible at Wimbledon--he has been in six of the last seven finals--on a surface suited to his serve-and-volley style, yet the baseline-rooted Agassi was clearly superior this time.

Last year, Michael Stich turned Becker into a brooding, forlorn figure here. Agassi continued Becker’s spiraling descent.

“I was all the time there,” Becker said. “I was serving good. I was playing good. He hit some shots that were not in the book, you know.”

Primary among them were service returns. Becker isn’t accustomed to having his serves knocked right back at his feet at a high rate of speed.

After Becker had served out the fourth set, Agassi put himself in position to win by breaking Becker for a 2-0 lead in the fifth. A breathtaking return by Agassi put Becker in an 0-30 hole, and an equally inspired backhand return led to a cross-court passing shot on break point.

Agassi moved to 5-1 when he broke Becker in the sixth game, helped along by a double fault, and concluded with consecutive returns that skipped off the grass out of Becker’s reach.

Still, Agassi’s journey to the semifinals was not all smooth sailing. As he served for the match, he was called for a controversial double-fault, blew four match points--three on errors--and gave Becker some room to breathe.

But not much. Serving at 5-3, Agassi ripped a cross-court forehand pass past a lunging Becker for a 40-0 lead, then headed for the net to shake hands when Becker dumped a backhand into the net. Agassi finished with 21 winners on service returns.

Even Becker was impressed.

“You cannot play better tennis than he did on grass,” Becker said. “If he keeps his form tomorrow and the days after, he is going to win the title. But then, it is a different morning tomorrow and a different day.”

Many thought it would be a cold day in July when McEnroe won another Wimbledon title, and at the end of precisely such a day, he finds himself only two matches away.

McEnroe hasn’t been in a Wimbledon final since 1984, when he won it, or any Grand Slam tournament final since 1985, when he lost to Ivan Lendl at the U.S. Open. But at 33 and in possibly his last Wimbledon, McEnroe benefited from a draw that worked out so that he can get to the final without having to play Becker or Jim Courier.

McEnroe may be slower than he was and he doesn’t hit the ball as hard as he did, but he really isn’t interested in discussing his shortcomings right now.

“It’s hard to really compare,” he said. “I don’t really like to talk about it. But if I’m in the finals, and if by some miracle I can win, then I’d love to talk about it all day and night if I want.”