He’s Still Playing With a Boyish Enthusiasm

It was a single shot, a walloping backhand. The ball whizzed past the head of Gustavo Kuerten and blasted off the line, a massive winner, and the striker of that shot, Andre Agassi, bellowed a loud “Ahhhh.”

That passing shot saved a break point against him. Saving that break point helped Agassi hold serve. Holding that serve helped Agassi cement his own break of Kuerten in the previous game, gave Agassi a 3-1 lead in the third set, pushed Agassi to a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 win over Kuerten Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.

This passionate match drew the sellout crowd at UCLA into foot-stomping, hand-wringing excitement. “Olea, olea, olea, olea, Guga!” sang the Brazilian fans who sat in a corner at the top of the stadium and tried to push Kuerten to a win with their spirit.

“Win it for the baby,” yelled Agassi fans. Agassi and his girlfriend, Steffi Graf, announced last week that they are expecting a boy in December. Agassi is 31, soon to be a father and at the age when his tennis skills should be fading, his enthusiasm should be waning, his body should be crumbling, his will should be wavering.

That’s what is happening to Pete Sampras, the other half of the American double. Sampras and Agassi; Agassi and Sampras. The pair ruled tennis for the last decade. Sampras has more Grand Slam titles (13). Agassi has won at least one of each while Sampras is missing a French title on his resume.

And for most of the last decade it was Sampras who was on top, who was consistent and confident, strong and imperious. It was Sampras who seemed ageless, the way he made tennis look easy, made the serve-and-volley game that he had mastered seem so beautiful, because Sampras was such a blessed athlete with soft hands and quickness we didn’t always appreciate.

Now it’s Agassi who seems ageless.

Sampras, who turns 30 next month, has struggled in this tournament. He has grumpily tossed a racket and slogged past opponents (Michael Chang, Magnus Norman) whose games would have caused him little concern even two years ago.

Both Agassi and Sampras came to this tournament with wounded pride. Sampras failed to win Wimbledon for the first time since 1996 by losing in the fourth round. Agassi had been up, 5-3, in the fifth set over Patrick Rafter in the semifinals, then lost, 8-6. How? Even now Agassi isn’t quite sure.

Agassi has played here with a controlled anger, with an edgy fury and with a definite purpose. He has pumped his fists, he has shouted in anger and joy. He has, most of all, pummeled the ball ferociously.

The way Agassi played Saturday seemed to stun Kuerten.

On the computer, Kuerten is No. 1 in the world. In his mind, Agassi is. So every ball that Kuerten smashed, Agassi smashed harder. It took Agassi a set to get the measure of Kuerten’s serve. It was also the 24-year-old Kuerten who needed the trainer to massage a tender groin muscle. It was the 31-year-old Agassi who would jump up and return to the court before time was up on the changeovers.

Yes, Kuerten said, Agassi had run him into the ground.

Agassi wants to win another Grand Slam title or two or three. He wants it badly. You can tell by the way he is taking so seriously this midsummer tournament. Agassi wants to be as prepared as possible for the U.S. Open. Agassi, who has won seven Slams, won’t catch Sampras’ 13. But with another couple of titles, and with his sweep of all four, Agassi’s career might be considered at least the equal of Sampras’.

It was being so close to winning Wimbledon that caused Agassi to throw rackets and rant at linespeople there. His behavior was bad because Agassi craves greatness still. Sampras doesn’t seem to. Sampras speaks of wanting to play tennis a few more years. But his glorious quickness is gone. Quickness doesn’t come back. Neither, most of the time, does the will.

“You pay a heavy cost to keep yourself feeling good,” Agassi said after beating Kuerten. “Your body is the most important thing and you have to want it [winning] badly to keep feeling good.”

Agassi still wants it, badly.

So he comes to play under a hot summer sun on a Saturday afternoon with a vision and a purpose. He plays a 12-point game in the third set to hold serve, runs down two forehands by Kuerten that seemed certain winners, sneaks an impossible cross-court forehand by Kuerten, who is standing at the net and has left no more than an inch or two of ground where Agassi’s shot could fall good. Then Agassi’s shot fell good.

And four games later, down 0-40 on his serve, with only a single break in hand and maybe the prospect of another tiebreaker, Agassi saves three consecutive break points. He finesses a forehand volley winner. He smacks a power-packed forehand deep at Kuerten’s feet. He forces Kuerten to be off-balance and push a forehand long because Agassi had kept him on the run and out of position.

Agassi held his serve for a 5-3 lead, then broke Kuerten again to win. A standing ovation followed. Kuerten deserved it. Agassi deserved it more.

Based on his form Saturday--all year for that matter--it would not be wrong to make Agassi the favorite to win the U.S. Open. It would be his second Slam of the year. It would prove Agassi is still capable of chasing greatness.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at diane.pucin@latimes.com.