MELBOURNE, Australia -- Andre Agassi said on Thursday
he would try and persuade Patrick Rafter not to retire from
tennis after ending his dreams of becoming the first homegrown
Australian Open champion for a quarter of a century.
|  | | American Andre Agassi, left, speaks with Pat Rafter after their semifinal match. Agassi said he'll try and persuade Rafter not to retire at the end of the year. |
Defending champion Agassi, the sixth seed from the United
States, overcame Rafter -- and the will of a capacity crowd at
the Rod Laver Arena court -- in a dramatic semifinal.
Despite taking a two sets to one lead, 28-year-old Rafter
began suffering from cramps and his body succumbed as Agassi, two years his senior, kept his nerve and his fitness to triumph 7-5, 2-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in three hours, seven minutes.
The oppressive heat and humidity extracted the severest of
tolls on Rafter, who earlier in January announced his intention
to quit tennis at the end of the current season.
Agassi, who will meet the winner of the all-French semifinal
between Sebastien Grosjean and Arnaud Clement in Sunday's final,
said: "Maybe I can make it up to the Australian people for
beating him here by talking him into sticking around for a year
or two longer.
"With tennis like that, there's no reason why he couldn't or
shouldn't."
Indeed, Rafter's anticipated serve-and-volley display was
exceptional in the first three sets.
But despite trailing at the start of the fourth, Agassi had,
unbeknown to the crowd, taken a firm grip on the contest.
For, as Rafter himself acknowledged, the quality of Agassi's
returns and groundstrokes had been eating away at Rafter's
fitness all along.
There were 301 points played in the match and Agassi made
only 12 unforced errors.
The wear and tear began to show in the fourth as Rafter
called for the trainer early on and Agassi asserted control to
seize the set in 29 minutes.
Painful to watch
At this point, Rafter's anguish was plain for all to see.
He took an injury time-out before the fifth set got
under way, but the massage and painkillers were of little use.
Rafter said he did not think about not completing the match.
"You never know what might happen out there, youv'e got to
try," he said.
"I wasn't going to walk off possibly playing my last match
of the Australian Open with injury. I was going to play it out,
whether I lose 6-0 or whatever. But I knew I was buggered.
"It's tough when you want to chase it down, but your legs
just seize up.
"My heart feels fine. It feels like it wants to run. I want
to run, but my legs just won't do it. I try to push off, I just
seize up and they cramp.
"He (Agassi) was very solid. He made me play a lot of balls,
you know. He really wore me down very well tonight."
Walking a fine line
Agassi stepped in for the kill, regardless of his feelings
for an opponent he has grown accustomed to seeing on the other
side of the net over the last decade.
It was the second time in a week that Agassi had seen his
opponent in physical distress -- in the third round, German David
Prinosil retired with heat exhaustion trailing Agassi 6-7 0-5.
"When your opponent starts struggling, you walk a fine line
yourself," said Agassi, a six-time Grand Slam champion
"You want to make him play, but you cannot give them any
window of opportunity to come back.
"I think the biggest factor was what he lost in his serve.
"He had been serving and volleying very well for three sets,
but it's very hard to dig out low volleys if your legs are going
on you.
"Once that was going, he was in a tough predicament.
"I told him at the end that he had put up a great fight. It
was too bad that he started to feel bad.
"You know, we have played so often in big matches that it is
impossible not to have a tremendous amount of respect for him --
as a player or a man.
"It was a shame one of us had to lose, but Pat remains a
credit to the game."
It was at the Australian Open in 1999 when Agassi, having
been knocked out at the fourth round stage, confronted his
future in tennis.
At that point, he had not won a Grand Slam since taking the
Australian Open in 1995, and retirement had forced its way on to
the agenda.
Agassi, however, decided to go for broke, making it known to
coach Brad Gilbert and fitness trainer Gil Reyes that he would
take seriously the idea of working his way back to the top of
the game.
Fit and trim
The most important aspect of that commitment was his
physical conditioning.
Agassi accepted the challenges set down by Reyes and in May
of 1999, he captured the French Open title.
Another followed at the US Open that year and 12 months ago
he beat Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov at Melbourne Park for his
sixth grand slam title.
A seventh beckons and it is a testament to his attitude and
work rate that Agassi is again first among equals in the men's
game.
"I work smarter than I used to," said Agassi.
"You have to be careful about what you do, and how you
choose to do certain things when you get older.
"Training has become an important part of my routine, and
the hard work has certainly paid off.
"That sort of thing is only enjoyable at the end of the day.
Approaching our day with a degree of professionalism is what we
all try and do, and when you do that successfully, you can feel
proud of yourself.
"I felt good out there. Everything was strong and fitness is
definitely a part of that situation - although it always helps
when you see your opponent struggling."
The Las Vegan, watched from the stands by girlfriend Steffi
Graf, looked like he could play another five-set match directly
after Rafter had been put to the sword.
Rafter said he was unsure what to do to remedy his fitness problem.
"I do sweat very heavily. I did feel it tonight," said the
Australian who has made a Wimbledon final and the semifinals of
the French Open, as well as winning the U.S. Open twice, but who
until this year had never made it past the fourth round in
Melbourne.
"I just knew after about the first set that it was going to
be a long, long night for me," he said. "In the tiebreak I felt
the cramps coming on. It was very frustrating.
"After the 2-1 game in the fourth set I knew I was in a lot
of trouble."
The same could have been said for the Australian public,
who played every point with Rafter in a bid to witness the first
homegrown champion since Mark Edmondson beat John Newcombe in
1976.
Asked afterward about his plans to retire at the end of the
year, Rafter said: "I never really want to say this is definite
retirement. I'm going to take a long break and see what happens.
"If I want to come back, then I'll come back. I'm committed
to this year. I'm ready to play this year.
"I want to do well. I'd love to be able to leave the game
saying it was a great year and I'm glad to leave.
"It's been my life for so many years that it may come back
to me. It's always going to be in my blood.
"But at this stage it was still a great tournament for me
and it could very well be my last one here."
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