Power and Precision in Men’s Semifinals : Wimbledon: Sampras faces Ivanisevic in battle of big servers. Agassi and Becker will play a different game.

Today’s men’s semifinals offer power all around but also an intriguing potential for sharpshooting.

Pete Sampras’ match against Goran Ivanisevic might offer the shortest points in the tournament. Ivanisevic played big-serving Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarterfinals, and there was a stretch of four service games when the ball never came back across the net after a serve.

Sampras, seeded No. 2, and Ivanisevic, seeded No. 4, are two of the biggest servers on the tour, and after two weeks of heat and sun, Centre Court’s grass is playing like a hard court.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi is in the semifinals for only the second time. He faces three-time champion Boris Becker, seeded No. 3. This matchup could evolve into a baseline slugfest, although Becker admits he would be foolish to try to match ground strokes with Agassi.

Either player is capable of producing remarkable shots.

In previous meetings, Agassi leads, 8-3. He has won the last eight matches and all three they have played in Grand Slam events.

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The fiery Ivanisevic was fined $500 for breaking his racket in Wednesday’s quarterfinal match against Kafelnikov.

“I was surprised at how easy I broke the racket,” Ivanisevic said. “There may be something wrong with the racket, or I’m too strong.”

Asked if he would talk to the manufacturer about the problem, Ivanisevic said, “I don’t want to talk. You know, they are probably not so happy. They saw me smashing the racket. But I just broke it. I was pretty nice to the racket all week, two weeks.”

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Oddest question, during a tournament marked by oddities, asked of Agassi during a news conference: “Are you aware that your [tennis] shorts are transparent?”

“No, but you apparently are,” Agassi said.