Agassi and Sampras Give Them the Old 1-2 : Men’s semifinals: Agassi wins bitter battle with Becker after Sampras takes his friendly one against Courier.

Andre Agassi at last found a focus for the competitive fire that took him to No. 1 in the world then left him cold at the U.S. Open: Boris Becker.

Agassi survived an acrimonious semifinal Saturday against Becker that seemed to wake him from his early-round dozing. With a newfound vigor, he will face second-ranked Pete Sampras in today’s men’s singles final.

Sampras defeated Jim Courier, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, in 3 hours 2 minutes, and Agassi defeated Becker, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-4, in 3 hours 7 minutes.

Thus did Agassi and Sampras arrive where all the tennis world hoped they would. The match might settle the question of who deserves to be No. 1. Sampras has won only three tournaments this year, but one was Wimbledon. Agassi won seven titles this season, including the Australian Open.

“U.S. Open final, it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” Sampras said. “If I win tomorrow, there should be a strong possibility I should be No. 1,” he said. “On the other hand, as far as consistency is concerned, Andre has been a lot more consistent. He has won a lot more titles.”

Agassi agreed to agree.

“I’d have to say that if he wins this tournament, he’s had a better year than me,” Agassi said. “That’s just the way it is. Day in and day out, I’ve won more, but the way we feel about it, he won the Slams.”

Both semifinals were hard fought. But each player fought a different foe: Sampras worked hard against the ground strokes of Courier. Agassi meant his victory to blunt Becker’s profuse verbal attacks.

Both succeeded.

The Agassi-Becker match was fraught with agendas. After Becker defeated Agassi in the semifinals at Wimbledon, he had disparaging remarks to make about Agassi’s fitness as a role model for the sport and, further, how disliked Agassi was in the locker room.

Then Becker complained, as he has continued to here, that Nike--Agassi’s prime sponsor--had used its undue influence to place Agassi on the better courts.

Finally, Becker bragged that he had beaten Agassi because of inside information obtained from Nick Bollettieri--Agassi’s longtime former coach and the Becker coach-of-the-moment.

After Agassi’s service return scorched down the line for a winner at match point, Becker jogged to the net for the traditional handshake. Agassi lingered on court then offered a tentative hand while looking away.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Agassi didn’t hesitate in addressing the issue.

“I’ve shown nothing but respect for Boris throughout my career,” Agassi said. “I beat him eight times in a row, and I’ve never said anything other than what a great champion he is.

“At Wimbledon he said some things that hurt me at a very personal level. I don’t understand saying things that are meant to hurt. I don’t respect that; it’s very simple.”

The Sampras-Courier match, by contrast, was a love-fest. After the match the players met at the net and chatted like neighbors gossiping over a back yard fence.

So respectful were the players that it was 29 minutes into the match before the first break point, and it was against Sampras. He was serving at 4-4 and dealt with the incursion as he often does, serving aces.

Even though his forehand let him down in the second set, Sampras’ serve proved to be too much for Courier in the final two sets.