Agassi Skips to the Ending

And now for Andre Agassi’s latest tutorial: How to go from limping to skipping on the court in just under 16 not-so-easy weeks.

The sight of what looked like a possible career-ending injury to Agassi in May vanished Saturday and was replaced by the vision of a marquee Grand Slam final today in the U.S. Open between Agassi and top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Even from the clouds of his Mt. Olympus tennis perch, Federer, the defending champion and world’s No. 1-ranked player, appreciated the meaning of it all.

Federer took turns gliding and slogging through a 6-3, 7-6 (0) 4-6, 6-3 three-hour victory over No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the semifinals Saturday. Earlier in the afternoon, No. 7 Agassi beat unseeded countryman Robby Ginepri, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in 2 hours 47 minutes.

“What better final could I wish for?” said Federer, who beat Hewitt for the ninth consecutive time. “An American in a U.S. Open final. So it’s great, I’m looking forward to it. ... It’s a very different setup. Young against older. A guy whose career is toward the end, another guy’s been dominant. So depends if you like dominance or not.”

Agassi, 35, was giddy and looked like his young son, Jaden Gil, as he skipped across the court moments after his place in the final was secured with an ace, his 17th. This will be Agassi’s sixth final here, his first Grand Slam final since he won the Australian Open in 2003.

His last final at the U.S. Open was in 2002 against Pete Sampras, who won and promptly rode off into the distance, back to Southern California, never playing another tournament. Agassi’s brother Phil and his close friend and longtime trainer, Gil Reyes, do not think that will happen should Agassi beat Federer.

“I’d rather win and play all next year,” Agassi said, smiling.

But Federer in his prime -- with five Slams, only three fewer than Agassi, who’s 11 years older -- is a different proposition than Sampras in his final act.

“Most people have weaknesses and most people have one great shot,” Agassi said. “Federer doesn’t have any weaknesses and has a few great shots. So that equates to a problem. ...

“You play a bad match against Pete, you lose 6-4, 7-5. You play a good match against Pete, you lose 6-4, 7-5. You play a good match against Federer, you lose 6-4, 7-5. You play a bad match against Federer, you lose 1 and 1.”

Agassi is the oldest Slam finalist in 31 years, since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall, who lost to Jimmy Connors here in 1974. And Agassi went one step past Connors, who, at 39, lost to Jim Courier here after his celebrated run to the semifinals in 1991.

Longevity is an easy association with Connors and Rosewall. It has taken longer to reach that point with Agassi. He was asked if he could have envisioned something like this in the early ‘90s.

“No, I did the island/frozen drink thing in ‘97,” said Agassi, who played only one Slam event that year (the U.S. Open) and even played a Challenger event in Las Vegas after his ranking plummeted to No. 141 in November. “So that was out of my system. No, I never thought I would be doing this.”

Or even as recently as May. That’s when Agassi hobbled off the court in a first-round loss to Jarkko Nieminen of Finland at the French Open because of an inflamed sciatic nerve. He pulled out of Wimbledon and serious doubt surfaced about his future.

“It was an area that was career-threatening,” said Reyes. “Either we were going to step up or get swept away. Once we arrived back from Paris ... I told him to take some time off and think about what we were going to do.

”... The next day he calls me and said, ‘What time tomorrow?’ That answered my questions.”

Agassi has answered all questions in New York, where he has won three consecutive five-setters. He wore down the iron man Ginepri -- who set an Open-era record for most five-setters (four) at the U.S. Open -- breaking him with a drop-shot winner in the sixth game of the final set.

Asked if he was living on borrowed time, Agassi said, “I’ve seen guys healthy that just run out of something and their career changes. I’m certainly not above that. So I feel like I’ve been on borrowed time for a while.”

His wife, Steffi Graf, and children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle, have helped him deal with the highs and lows, putting the day job in perspective. The second of the three five-setters was the instant classic against James Blake, and Agassi had watched the preceding match, Lindsay Davenport-Elena Dementieva, from an interesting spot.

“Andre was in the nursery,” Reyes said. “Jaz is on Andre’s lap and Jaden was at his side, tucked in under his arm. I said, ‘Good job kids, way to go.’ I think that’s what gives you the feeling all is well.”

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Roger’s All That

Andre Agassi and Roger Federer head-to-head:

MEN’S FINAL

Andre Agassi (7) vs. Roger Federer (1)

Federer leads, 7-3 -- Today, 1 p.m. PDT, Channel 2

*--* Year Tournam Surface Round Winner Score ent 1998 Basel carpet-indoor Round of 32 Agassi 6-3, 6-2 2001 U.S. hard-outdoor Round of 16 Agassi 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 Open 2002 Miami hard-outdoor Final Agassi 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 2003 Masters hard-outdoor Round Robin Federer 6-7 (3), 6-3, Cup 7-6 (7) 2003 Masters hard-outdoor Final Federer 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 Cup 2004 Indian hard-outdoor Semifinal Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wells 2004 U.S. hard-outdoor Quarterfinal Federer 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, Open 3-6, 6-3 2005 Austral hard-outdoor Quarterfinal Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 ian Open 2005 Dubai hard-outdoor Semifinal Federer 6-3, 6-1 2005 Miami hard-outdoor Semifinal Federer 6-4, 6-3

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Source: Associated Press