No. 1 Federer Sizes Up Agassi-Ginepri Semifinal

Roger Federer, not surprisingly, is a bit of a tennis junkie.

He admitted that he stayed up -- pulse racing -- after 1 a.m. Thursday to watch the enthralling conclusion of the quarterfinal match between James Blake and Andre Agassi. Beyond his appreciation of the classics, Federer keeps an eye elsewhere. He surprised folks in the TV studio earlier this year by citing a result from a pre-Wimbledon challenger event on grass at Surbiton, England.

So, who better to break down today’s first semifinal at the U.S. Open, matching No. 7-seeded Agassi against Robby Ginepri? That will be followed by the man himself, No. 1 Federer, against No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt. Federer has won his last eight matches against Hewitt since a Davis Cup loss in the 2003 semifinals.

“For me, Agassi is the favorite, heading into the Ginepri match, so I expect him to be in the finals,” said Federer, who has lost one set in five matches here. “But, again, Robby has been playing great. I had a rough one with him in Cincinnati, so I give him a chance.

“So far the draw was good for Agassi. He took advantage of it.... Even against an American, he has the backup from the fans, which I think is normal because he’s been around for so long.”

That would be accurate. The 35-year-old Agassi, the oldest U.S. Open semifinalist since Jimmy Connors (39) in 1991, is playing in his 20th U.S. Open and Ginepri is appearing in his fifth. Of the semifinalists, Ginepri is the only one not to have won a title here.

Agassi and Ginepri have done plenty of heavy lifting in New York. Agassi has played back-to-back five-setters. Ginepri went five sets in his last three rounds.

Agassi has not lost a set in going 3-0 against Ginepri. They haven’t played since last year at the U.S. Open, a lifetime ago considering Ginepri’s recent ascent. Leading up to the U.S. Open, Ginepri won at Indianapolis, got to the quarterfinals at Los Angeles and made the semifinals at Cincinnati. He is the first unseeded man to make it to the Open semifinals since Todd Martin in 2000.