MELBOURNE, Australia -- A victory away from his seventh Grand
Slam title, Andre Agassi takes no comfort that he'll be playing a
low-seeded opponent.
"I have two days and a whole different style of player to
contend with," Agassi said Thursday after beating local hero Pat
Rafter 7-5, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3. "I'm too practical and
focused on what I'm trying to do to take anything for granted."
|  | | Andre Agassi came from behind to beat Patrick Rafter on Thursday. |
In high humidity inside Rod Laver Arena, Agassi needed 3 hours,
7 minutes to advance to his fifth final in the last eight Grand
Slam tournament.
He made a backhand error in a third-set tiebreaker and fell
behind, then rallied as Rafter began to cramp.
In Sunday's final, he'll play the winner of Friday's all-French
semifinal between No. 15 Arnaud Clement or No. 16 Sebastien
Grosjean.
"They both have their weapons. ... They're both incredibly fast
and they're both great competitors," Agassi said. "It will affect
how I play, but I've basically got to stick to what it is I do."
He has a 2-2 record against Clement and won his only match
against Grosjean in straight sets during the first round of the
1998 U.S. Open.
Agassi had 12 unforced errors in 50 games against Rafter and
said it was more important to limit mistakes than seek a quick
victory.
"You're telling yourself just keep executing," he said. "But
you don't want to take too many chances ... so it's a fine
balance."
Rafter was soaked in sweat after the match.
"Yeah, it was definitely the heat," he said. "I think Andre
and I both felt it, but I don't handle it quite as well I guess."
In the fifth set, Rafter was limping on the court, unable to
catch up with passing shots. He was examined by a trainer during
the break between the fourth and fifth sets.
Agassi, working Rafter to the corners of the court, had a
combined 46 backhand and forehand winners in the last two sets.
"It's a tough way to end," Agassi said. "I hung in there,
kept my game together and came up with the win. ... I earned it."
Rafter said his serve-and-volley style wasn't as well suited to
the humidity as was Agassi's baseline game.
It wasn't the first time in the tournament that Agassi survived
a match in the heat. In the third round, David Prinosil of Germany
retired from heat exhaustion with Agassi ahead 7-6 (11), 5-0.
Agassi had won seven of 11 matches against Rafter coming in. The
Australian won in five sets at last summer's Wimbledon semifinals.
"I just told him it was a great fight; it's too bad he was
feeling so bad," Agassi said. "We've played each other so many
times in so many big matches. It's impossible not to have a lot of
respect for him, not just as a player but as a man."
Rafter, who had six aces in his opening two games and 22
overall, said he didn't contemplate retiring from the match despite
his degenerating condition.
"I wasn't going to walk off with an injury," he said. "I was
going to play it out, whether I lost 6-love or whatever."
Rafter was the first Australian to reach the semis of the
nation's biggest tournament since Mark Woodforde in 1996. The last
Australian to win a home Grand Slam was Mark Edmondson, who edged
compatriot John Newcombe in 1976.
Rafter, who is thinking about retiring after this season, took a
bow after the match. Agassi said he hoped he could make it up to
the public by talking Rafter into "sticking around an extra year
to play down here again."
"With tennis like that, there's no reason why he couldn't or
shouldn't," Agassi said.
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ALSO SEE
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Capriati upsets Davenport; Hingis clobbers Venus
Clement upsets Kafelnikov, advances to semis
Hingis defeats Venus Williams to reach final
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 Andre Agassi gets the best of Patrick Rafter in 5 sets.
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