NEW YORK - Andre Agassi said his stunning comeback victory over James Blake at the US Open today ranked among the best experiences in his glittering 20-year career.
"I know it's right up there because this is what you work so hard for," Agassi said after his electrifying 3-6 3-6
6-3 6-3 7-6 (8-6) triumph.
Agassi waited until he was two sets and a break down before finding his best form and then recovered from a 5-3 deficit in the final set to snatch the final-set tiebreak and reach the semi-finals for the tenth time.
"With the way a mentality like mine works, this means as much to me as doing it in the finals. This is what it's about.
"It's about just authentic competition, just getting out there and having respect for each other's game and respect for each other's person and letting it fly and letting it be just about tennis."
Agassi has often said that his French Open victory in 1999, when he also came from two sets down to beat Andrei Medvedev to become only the fifth man to win all four grand slam titles, was his greatest moment.
His win over Blake wasn't too far behind.
"There are a few moments on a tennis court that are that special," he said.
"It's like a fairytale. It's 1.15 in the morning, 20,000 people out there. Tennis won tonight."
For the sixth time in a glorious career that has brought him eight grand slam titles, the 35-year-old Las Vegas native came from two sets down to claim victory.
The win also kept alive his hopes of becoming the oldest US Open champion since Ken Rosewall in 1970. At 35, Agassi is the oldest man to reach the last four of the US Open since Jimmy Connors made the semifinals in 1991 at 39.
Unseeded American Robby Ginepri took a more tortuous but now-familiar route into his first grand slam semifinal, beating Argentine eighth seed Guillermo Coria in his third successive five-set triumph in the men's singles.
Ginepri will now meet Agassi.
- REUTERS
