TENNIS ROUNDUP : Medvedev and His Big Serve Are Too Much for Agassi

Andrei Medvedev used a powerful serve to overcome Andre Agassi’s masterful return game, advancing to the Volvo International finals with a 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4 victory Saturday at New Haven, Conn.

Medvedev will play Petr Korda in today’s final. Korda, who won the hard-court tournament two years ago, advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Byron Black.

Medvedev had 23 aces, 11 in the first set, as Agassi managed only two points off Medvedvev’s first serve in the set.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Medvedev said of his serving. “Not even in practice when there’s no one on the other side of the court.”

It took 11 tries before Agassi got Medvedev’s serve in play and 19 tries before he scored a point off it. Medvedev said playing at night was an advantage because of the poor lighting that drew player complaints all week. But Agassi wouldn’t place the blame there.

“He served huge, regardless what the light situation,” Agassi said.

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Third-seeded Boris Becker, who has never lost to second-seeded Jim Courier in six previous meetings, will get a chance to extend the streak today in the championship match of the U.S. Hardcourts at Indianapolis.

Becker, No. 4 in the world, held off the challenge of No. 139 Patrick Rafter of Australia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the semifinals.

Courier, who will reclaim the No. 1 position when the new rankings are released today, defeated No. 70 Luiz Mattar of Brazil, 6-3, 6-2.

Becker and Courier haven’t met in a tour event since Becker won the final of an indoor ATP Tournament last November in Germany.

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Top-seeded Steffi Graf rolled past Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals of the Canadian Open at Toronto. In today’s final, Graf will meet Jennifer Capriati, a 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 semifinal winner over defending champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Sanchez Vicario led Capriati in the tiebreaker, 5-0 and 6-3, before Capriati rallied.