Ferrero eyes the prize
Matthew Cronin
Thursday, June 6, 2002

Playing perhaps his most impressive match ever, Spain's Juan Carlos
Ferrero ran over Andre Agassi 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-3 to gain his third
Roland Garros semifinal on Thursday.

"This is very special to be able to be able to beat Agassi," said
No11 seed Ferrero. "He plays very quickly. This really makes him
impressive because you're not able to make him play from the back.
You have to be playing very well to beat him and doing it in the
quarters is a great accomplishment for me.... He's one of the
greatest players ever."

Continuing a contest that began on Wednesday and ended due to rain
at 6-3 1-0 for Ferrero, the Spaniard flew about the court with the
grace of a hawk, swooping in on Agassi's big baseline blasts and
whipping them back to all angles of the court. Ferrero confounded
No4 Agassi with his heavy kick serve, gamely hung with him in
crosscourt backhand rallies and was the far more impressive from
the forehand side, igniting rockets both down the line, at short
angles and crosscourt.

"He makes you move around the whole time and the pace is quite
fast," Ferrero said. "You have to try to wrap up the rallies every
time or he's going to tire you out. I tried to dominate if I could."

Playing in dry and sunny conditions, Agassi came out much more
motivated than he had on Wednesday while Ferrero took a little
time to get his strokes grooved. Agassi broke Ferrero to go ahead
4-3, but was unable to serve the set out at 5-4. Ferrero broke him
when Agassi dumped a swing volley into the net, and then committed
a backhand error. But the American broke Ferrero right back at love
with a series of brutal groundstrokes to go ahead 6-5. He then
served out the set when Ferrero careened a forehand return long.

But the Spaniard immediately broke Agassi to open the third set
and began to hit with more depth and purpose and jumped out to a
5-2 lead. However, the veteran Agassi began to force the action
more, establishing himself in the center of the court and climbing
back to 5-5. But Agassi failed to take advantage of three break
points, missing a backhand, knocking a forehand into the net and
then burying a huge forehead return into the net. Ferrero held to
6-5, and Agassi was clearly rattled, double faulting to set point
and then sculling a forehand.

"It was a big opportunity there," Agassi said. "Those chances are
going to come and go. There are times when you make them but that
turned out to be pretty big. But as far as I was concerned, I was
a 'hold' away from being in the breaker when I was planning on
winning the set. He stepped up his game more than me being deflated.
I felt he got out of jail there and let a few shots start to fly. You
have to give him credit for the way he played."

The 22-year-old Ferrero was pumped up and stepped up a gear in the
fourth set, while the 32-year-old Agassi was very frustrated with
his inability to keep up with the young Spaniard. Ferrero broke
Agassi to jump ahead 2-0 after he slapped a forehand passing shot
down the line and then watched Agassi commit a backhand error.
Agassi's' frustration was apparent in the fifth game, when he
screamed out loud after he missed a forehand long. Then, after
floating a backhand volley wide, he made like a giant crane and
flapped his arms, mocking his own volleying technique. The Spaniard
won the match by crushing a forehand down the line.

In his first match against Ferrero, Agassi was very impressed.

"His game is big," Agassi said. "He can really hit the ball well
off his forehand from both sides of the court. He hits it heavy
and has a really heavy first serve. And when he has time on his
backhand he's solid there, too. He's always looking to play offense
and can play both strokes down the line and crosscourt. He's hard to
stop and I'd put him as the favorite at this point."

Ferrero, who will now play Russian Marat Safin, has had an amazing
run here, considering that he suffered a bad ankle sprain early in
the tournament and thought he might not be able to play. Now, he's
ready to win his first semifinal.

"The time has come for me to play the semifinals as well as I can,
" said Ferrero, who lost to two-time champ Gustavo Kuerten the past
two years. "The time has come to reach the final.... There's more
experience behind me. You're able to know what to do whenever you
come into a difficult situation. You know how to construct a point,
how to relax, how to be under stress. You approach your game in a
different way."

At age 32 and being a new father, Agassi may not be around the tour
for more than a couple of years. With his increasing age and with
the number of excellent young claycourters, the 1999 Roland Garros
champ may never win another title here.

"I'm certainly aware of the opportunities being fewer and fewer,"
Agassi said. "I suppose for me this one has always been the most
difficult to win and I felt like I was here giving myself a chance.
Still I look toward the future. Ever year the chances get less for
everybody, but you are more aware of it when you get older. But I
still like my game in most scenarios and like my chances if I keep
working hard."