TENNIS: Andre Agassi had made the Australian Open his own with three wins in four years but his 26-match unbeaten sequence here was ended yesterday when Marat Safin took him off at the knees in five stupendous sets.
The American knew when he came the pressure was on, with three other reigning grand slam champions - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick - arriving here with solid belief that his days were numbered. In the end it was the Russian, another young player, who brought him down.
At the beginning of the new millennium Safin had all but destroyed Pete Sampras's luminous career with a brutal straight-sets win in the US Open final. Sampras returned two years later to defeat Agassi at Flushing Meadows for his 14th and final grand slam victory and the 33-year-old Agassi, holder of eight major titles, may not be done yet.
Asked if he would be back in Melbourne next year he said: "I have no plans to do otherwise." But it felt like the end of an era. Agassi took a little extra time to bow to the four corners of the court and wave farewell: "You never know when it's your last, so you want to say goodbye properly."
His wife, Steffi Graf, sitting next to his long-time trainer, Gil Reyes, gave nothing away. No doubt part of her would love to see him win again, at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Flushing Meadows or even back here. But it seems unlikely now, and he may join her in retirement later this year.
Agassi's serve has always been an immensely underrated weapon but it never had the quality or power of Sampras's delivery. And last night it was the Safin serve - 33 aces - which gave the Russian the edge. Like Sampras he cruised through some games without expending too much energy and, although Safin, 24 this week, lost the plot in the fourth set, he came back from the brink to win 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 1-6, 6-3 in three hours 42 minutes.
Apart from that fourth set, when Safin's Russian core imploded and he railed against the perceived injustice of dropping a two-sets lead, he played, as he had in his five-set quarter-final victory over Roddick, with astonishing self-control and unbending self-belief.
Safin has smashed more rackets than most but now, apart from one mini-tirade at the umpire and the clattering of one ball into the net after a point was lost, he was admirably restrained.
To be sure he mumbled and grumbled between points when Agassi was in the ascendancy, yet it was possible to believe his conversation with himself was constructive rather than a long rant about the world and its iniquities.
When the fifth set began he had calmed himself and was seeing matters with cold clarity rather than through a red mist.
And it was Agassi who faltered. Tiredness seeped into his limbs and, when Safin served for the match at 5-3, Agassi's resistance had all but vanished. A backhand down the line - so often Agassi's speciality - finished him off.
"I just could not feel any better. This was the best match of my whole life," said Safin, the 2002 runner-up here - the year Agassi missed. He has two days to prepare for the final - "time to have a few beers to loosen up the muscles".
Whatever happens on Sunday, men's tennis, as vibrant as it has been for some time, is much the richer for having Safin back and contesting major honours.
Guardian Service
Men's Singles semi-final: M Safin (Rus) bt (4) A Agassi (US) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 1-6 6-3. Women's Singles semi-finals: (1) J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt (32) F Zuluaga (Col) 6-2 6-2, (2) K Clijsters (Bel) bt (22) P Schnyder (Swi) 6-2 7-6 (7-2). Men's Doubles semi-final: (5) M Llodra (Fra) & F Santoro (Fra) bt (9) G Etlis (Arg) & M Rodriguez (Arg) 6-2 7-5, (1) B Bryan (US) & M Bryan (US) bt (3) J Bjorkman (Swe) & T Woodbridge (Aus) 6-1 6-2.
