Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990 TAG: 9006060064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
The Americans won impressively Tuesday to move into the semifinals of the French Open, and both proclaimed themselves ready to win their first Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
Mixing power with patience, Agassi mastered defending men's champion Michael Chang 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
The 14-year-old Capriati, displaying her relentless baseline game, outclassed another Floridian, Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-2, 6-4 in a little more than an hour.
Capriati already is the youngest semifinalist in Grand Slam history.
"This is a great thing for me. This is my biggest accomplishment. Now I just have to keep going. I have a very positive attitude," said the eighth-grader, who became a professional four months ago.
Next up for Capriati is second-seeded Monica Seles, who rallied from a 1-4 deficit in the final set to beat sixth-seeded Manuela Maleeva 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
"She [Seles] is really tough, but I think I can win," Capriati said. Seles reached the semifinals as a 15-year-old last year.
In the meantime Tuesday, top-seeded Steffi Graf suffered a mid-match lapse but came back for a 6-1, 6-3 victory over ninth-seeded Conchita Martinez. Eleventh-seeded Jana Novotna came from behind to beat eighth-seeded Katerina Maleeva 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Last year Chang became the first American to win the French Open men's title in 34 years. Agassi, at No. 3 the highest-seeded man remaining, proved he is a strong threat to give the United States a repeat champion.
"As the tournament goes on, the better I feel," the 20-year-old from Las Vegas said. "It gives me a lot of confidence. I'm going to fight and sweat. This could be one of the biggest tournaments of my career."
Agassi's next opponent will be unseeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden, who defeated France's Henri Leconte 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals for the second time in three years.
The Agassi-Chang match offered a striking contrast in styles and personalities - bad boy vs. choir boy, glitz vs. guile.
On one side was Agassi, the rebel with the rock star looks, the pink-and-black day-glo outfit and the seven-man entourage of white hats and dark sunglasses. On the other was Chang, the soft-spoken 18-year-old who credits his religious faith for his success.
The two play similar games, relying on quickness and solid groundstrokes. Agassi, though, has a stronger serve and more explosive shots - and they played a big part in his victory Tuesday.
"My game fits with his," Agassi said. "We do a lot of the same things, so it was a question of who was going to play stronger."
Chang said, "Andre played too well today. He was too strong off the ground for me. He didn't miss many balls."
Agassi set the tone early. After an exchange of breaks in the first two games, he broke for a 2-1 lead with back-to-back crosscourt passing shots.
Agassi dictated the pace with crisp forehands and backhands, and he mixed up the rhythm with offspeed shots, patiently waiting for an opening before going for winners. Chang, always on the defensive, usually made the errors.
Serving at 5-2, Agassi squandered his first set point when he hit a forehand long. Two points later, he hit a high-bounding second serve to Chang's backhand, then fired an inside-out forehand into the corner.
Chang, who now is 0-3 against Agassi, said he realized quickly that he was facing a new and improved version.
"He's picking his shots a lot better," Chang said. "He's always got you on the run. On clay he's learning when to hit hard and when to play safe. He's thinking a lot better."
Agassi agreed.
"Now that I'm physically capable, I don't panic as much and go for the shot," he said. "I think more clearly out there."
The pattern continued in the second set. After Chang saved three break points to hold serve in the first game, Agassi won the next six, closing out the set with an overhead.
"He played flawless tennis in the first two sets," Chang said.
Keywords:
TENNIS
by CNB