Determined Agassi Standing in Way of Rios’ Coronation

After he finished his match by hitting two brilliant winners, received applause from opponent Alex Corretja and brought down the house with several theatrical bows, Andre Agassi got past his shyness and made a bold proclamation Friday night.

“I don’t know why they’re talking [Marcelo] Rios and [Pete] Sampras,” Agassi said.

“At the end of the year, I’m going to be ranked No. 1.”

Encore, Agassi?

If Marcelo Rios of Chile becomes the new king of men’s tennis Sunday at the Lipton Championships--supplanting Sampras and his 102-week reign--he’ll have to get past the old, and perhaps, future king, if Agassi has his way.

But after his compelling semifinal thrashing of Corretja, a 6-4, 6-2 victory, Agassi wasn’t having any of this Andre the Savior stuff. Agassi isn’t out to rescue No. 1 for Sampras, he’s sizing it up and getting ready for his own fitting.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on it right now,” Agassi said. “I understand that because it’s an opportunity for Rios to be No. 1. I’m concerned with being No. 1 too. We all are.”

Agassi, ranked 31st, has quickly climbed back in his latest self-renovation project. He finished 1997 ranked No. 122, rejoined the top 50 in March and won two of his last three tournaments.

“He is kind of a genius,” Corretja said. “It’s not easy to go up and down, but he can do it.”

For Rios, who defeated Tim Henman of England, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0, in an earlier semifinal, reaching No. 1 with a victory against Agassi would make an emphatic statement. If Rios loses to Agassi, he will be ranked No. 2, the highest-ranked South American since Guillermo Vilas of Argentina was No. 2 in 1978.

“I’ve never played Andre, even in the finals,” Rios said. “I’m [trying] to be No. 1. He was the No. 1 player. Playing him to become the No. 1 player is exciting. It’s the best match you can have, beating Agassi to be No. 1.”

Oddly enough, Agassi and Rios have almost no relationship on or off the court. Rios has never had dinner with Andre, much less a conversation.

“He’s not the most communicative kind of guy,” Agassi said. “I see the guys saying hello to him. He minds his business, goes about his thing. Then I read everybody here doesn’t like him. That’s it. I wake up in the morning looking forward to what they’re going to say about Rios next.

“Other than that, we go about our business. He’s never been anything but respectful to me, very nice, very cordial. That’s all you can ask for.”

Actually, Rios was once called the Agassi of Chile about four years ago. Friday, Agassi was asked how he felt about playing his clone.

“I’m not sure if you just insulted me or gave me a compliment there,” Agassi said. “I don’t have long hair anymore, man.”

Generous assessment aside, the two are similar players, quick and deft baseliners, blessed with outstanding service returns. Against Henman, Rios was unblinking against serves in excess of 120 mph.

He broke Henman in the opening game and went on to break his serve six more times in the 1-hour 35-minute match, and nearly withstood a burst of serve-and-volley brilliance in the second set.

Rios reached the Australian Open final in January, but Lindsay Davenport previously said reaching No. 1 without winning a Grand Slam event is not such a strong statement.

“I don’t know,” Rios said. “Maybe it’s different thing with girls. Winning a Grand Slam with girls is really easy, so they should be No. 1 really easy. I think with guys, it’s really tough.

“It [the No. 1 ranking] is over a lot of tournaments. Grand Slams are only four tournaments. I play 30 tournaments a year.”

Henman agreed.

“Ranking points don’t lie,” he said. “You’ve got to earn every single one of them. He hasn’t won a Grand Slam. He’s come very close.

“I think it won’t be long before he does win a major. If he does win [Sunday], I definitely think he deserves it.”

Agassi, for his part, is curious about the unknown.

“I’m excited to play him,” he said. “I want to go out there, I want to see it. We’re both going to have to prove to the other that it’s our day.”