Agassi playing with sense of urgency
By Greg GarberNEW YORK -- When you are 35 years old and have a cranky back, that ticking sound you're hearing is your own biological clock.
But you're not thinking in terms of years -- that's a scope far too broad. How many points do you have left? How many sets? How many matches?
Andre Agassi, who has always listened to his inner drop shot, feels this acutely. There is a sense of urgency about him that is striking as he works his way through Grand Slam draws. Economy, not image, is everything.
On Saturday, brevity was not merely the soul of wit -- it was a physical necessity for a man who now seems convinced he can reach the final of this United States Open. After dispatching Tomas Berdych, a callow 19-year-old from the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (2), Agassi had played only 10 sets, one over the minimum.
That he has avoided any further wear and tear is a tribute to his will and intelligence. Take the sixth game of the fourth set, when he erased three break points and leveled it at 3-all with an ace down the middle. Take the forehand winner at 3-5 that ruined Berdych's best chance to extend the match to five sets. Take the tiebreak in which Agassi inevitably raised his game and Berdych slowly imploded.
Agassi said later that he wasn't thinking about trying to avoid a fifth set.
"I was thinking about every point," he said. "I like when I get that focus. It means I'm really doing my job well."
Agassi wasn't the only American with that distinction yesterday. Earlier, James Blake stunned No. 2-seeded Rafael Nadal in four sets. Blake and Agassi could meet in the quarterfinals. Later, Robby Ginepri defeated No. 29 seed Tommy Haas in five sets and will meet No. 13 Richard Gasquet, who outlasted Ivan Ljubicic, also in five sets. There are three Americans among the last eight players in the bottom half of the men's draw.
This was a classic battle of age versus experience. When Agassi was losing in the first round of the U.S. Open in 1986, Berdych was less than a year old. The No. 7 seed has won 60 ATP titles in his time, compared to just one for Berdych.
In the first set, it seemed to be the other way around. Berdych blew him off the court.
"I was flat as a tack," Agassi noted later. "Somehow I was still in the locker room. I figured that things could only get better."
When he is healthy, admittedly less and less these days, Agassi remains a joy to watch. He knows his game so well and, at the same time, invariably deconstructs his opponents' plan of attack. Against Berdych, a strapping 6-foot-4, Agassi thought he might be able to give him pause with a drop shot.
"I think it's possible to go to it too often," Agassi said. "But the good news, when you cross that line, when you go to it too often, it means you've really established to the guy that he has to worry about it, which means the second you go back to striking the ball, it's going to be effective against him.
"My hope was to sort of edge him forward a little bit so that his swing became more risky by getting him close to the baseline. Otherwise, he just settles into a nice groove and it seems like he'll never miss. It's a really one-sided breeze out there, so it really lends to using that shot effectively."
Agassi authored more than a half-dozen well-disguised drop shots, mostly from the backhand side, and as the match progressed Berdych stopped even attempting to run them down.
By the time they reached that fourth-set breaker, Berdych was mentally finished. After he dumped an unforced forehand into the net to go down 1-4, he slammed down his racket. Agassi won seven of nine points to close it out.
Agassi, his aching sciatic nerve smoothed by a recent cortisone shot, has now played four tiebreaks in three matches -- and he's won them all.
So, Andre, how's the back?
"It felt good," Agassi said. "We were out there for two and a half hours. So that's good news."
Next up is Xavier Malisse, the talented Belgian, who has reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the sixth time. He lost the first two sets to Russian Mikhail Youzhny, the No. 24 seed, and then rallied in a dramatic fifth-set breaker 5-7, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (1).
Things seem to be opening up for Agassi, a two-time champion here. Not only has he never lost to Malisse, but James Blake's victory over No. 2-seeded Rafael Nadal also removed a daunting impediment. In the draw's other quarter, No. 4 seed Andy Roddick is already out and No. 8-seeded Guillermo Cora is the highest seed left.
Agassi has said repeatedly that he is not retiring anytime soon. Entertaining people who have supported his tennis over the years, he says, helps to motivate him to train, keeps him hungry to play big tournaments. Afterward he was asked if the thrill of the hunt, finding himself in the second week of the Grand Slams he cherishes, was also a factor in his perseverance.
"It's one and the same, really," Agassi said. "I don't think you really inspire and entertain unless to some degree you're competitive and a threat. Listen, you're [the media] discovering this with me. I should say I'm discovering it with you.
"I don't know what my mindset is. I don't always understand what my motivations are. I know what my responsibilities are, and I know those responsibilities motivate me. But I've never been through this before. I've never been 35 years old before. I've never played 20 Opens before. This is the first time. So I'm wondering about all that myself, and I have for a number of years now.
"So while I appreciate the respect of my words and the attention to them, I caution you [not] to take them too literally when it comes to me trying to get a feel for what I'm looking for at this stage of my career, because I take it one day at a time. It's hard for me to be totally clear myself."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
