U.S. OPEN NOTES : Agassi, Sampras Top Compelling Men’s Semifinals

Andre Agassi vs. Boris Becker. Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier. They have survived all that the draw and the elements have offered and face off today in the U.S. Open semifinals, the first time in the tournament’s history that the final four men have at one time been ranked No. 1.

Becker eliminated Agassi in the semifinals of this year’s Wimbledon, after having been down a set and looking at 1-4 in the second.

Becker lost to Sampras in the final, but his presence there made him, once again, a force to be reckoned with, even as marriage and fatherhood have tugged at him. Here, Becker bumped through the draw and arrived at today’s match as the victor in the tournament’s longest match, a 4-hour 7-minute battle with Patrick McEnroe.

Agassi is the top-seeded player here, but he too has had his problems. He was pushed to five sets by Alex Corretja and to four by Petr Korda. And the Korda match easily could have gone five.

Sampras looked best in the third set of his quarterfinal match against Byron Black when he cranked up his serve consistently for the first time here.

His rivalry with Courier goes back nearly 10 years, when they met often as juniors.

Courier is rebounding from two down years during which he lost interest in training. He began his comeback at the Australian Open earlier this year, battling Sampras in the semifinals in an emotionally charged marathon match won by Sampras.

Expect the same today, minus the tears.

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Sept. 8, 1984, was, perhaps, the single greatest day in the history of the U.S. Open.

In the first men’s semifinal, Ivan Lendl defeated Pat Cash, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.

That match was followed by the women’s singles final, in which Martina Navratilova defeated Chris Evert, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

That was followed by another men’s semifinal, in which John McEnroe defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Play began at 11:07 a.m. and ended at 11:14 p.m.