Andre wins one for the ages
By Greg GarberNEW YORK -- He was down two sets and a break in the third set, down and almost completely out, but Andre Agassi kept swinging.
At 35, he has everything for which a man could dream: an unshakable tennis legacy, a gorgeous family and a not-so-small fortune. But, for whatever reason, it is not enough.
Agassi continues to live for these fleeting moments, when the world is watching and the stadium is roaring. It happens less and less these days -- a sciatic nerve has curtailed his ability to play for long stretches -- but when it happens it is a beautiful thing.
It lifts Agassi, transporting him to a familiar place, a place far away.
As Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning, he carried the more than 23,000 delirious spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium with him. In a shades-of-Jimmy Connors comeback, Agassi stunned wildcard James Blake 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in a gut-wrenching quarterfinal match that ended at 1:09 a.m. ET.
With Blake serving for the match at 5-4 in the fifth, Agassi -- functioning on pure adrenaline -- somehow summoned a break of serve to level the match, clearing the way for the ultimate tie-breaker.
At 6-all, Agassi hit a backhand passing shot past a startled Blake, then followed it with a forehand service return that managed to clip the baseline. As Agassi took his customary bows to the four sides of the stadium, the smile on his face could not have been broader.
"I don't know if I've ever felt this good here," said Agassi, who is playing in his 20th U.S. Open and completed his 93rd match. "All the support means the world to me.
"This is what you work so hard for. It's just authentic competition. Letting it fly and letting it just be about tennis."
Said Blake, who embraced his friend at the net after the match, "I generally don't have much fun losing, but this one was a lot of fun to play. This was incredible."
Agassi now meets unseeded Robby Ginepri in a All-American semifinal on Saturday. Earlier, Ginepri took out No. 8 seed Guillermo Coria 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Blake has always been a stylish player, with and speed and grace and a sweet forehand. His backhand, however, was problematic and he was inconsistent when the points meant something.
For 10 straight matches, Blake had been playing like someone else. He has served like a champion, ripped winners from both sides and made some terrific volleys and even a few ridiculous half-volleys. Against great odds, he came into his own at the age of 25.
The fractured vertebrae in his neck, suffered in May 2004, were only the beginning. In a horrifying span of five weeks, he also lost his father Thomas to cancer and contracted a debilitating virus that froze his face and left him weak and dizzy. His ranking went south, falling all the way to No. 210, so far the United States Tennis Association had to give him a wildcard into the tournament.
Blake roared through the draw, disposing of No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal along the way. But somehow, you sensed it would be different against Agassi, who entered the match 18-1 against unseeded Americans.
Blake had beaten Agassi only once in four previous matches, but it was a career-changing win. He took Agassi out in the straight sets in the semifinals at Washington in 2002 on the way to his first career ATP victory.
Agassi, meanwhile, had been embarrassed in the first round at Roland Garros when his sciatic nerve rendered him unplayable and was forced to miss Wimbledon. He has returned slowly and surely and worked hard to place himself in this situation.
For the first two sets, it was not a contest. Blake won them by identical 6-3 scores in a scant 62 minutes. There were times when Agassi seemed out of sorts, baffled. In the ninth game of the first set, with Blake on a tear in which he won 14 of 16 points, Agassi swung at a Blake service return -- and missed it entirely.
Blake was up a break in the third set, at 3-2, when something changed. Agassi kept swinging and swinging and Blake seemed to shrink a bit. His serve fell off, his movement became labored and his groundstrokes grew tentative. The eight-time Grand Slam champion sensed this.
He won the third and fourth sets, by identical 6-3 counts, and suddenly the pressure shifted to Blake. He weathered it well, but in the end -- the last two points in a match of 318, Agassi was just a little better.
"It's pretty amazing, you know, pretty amazing," Agassi said. "Sitting at home during Wimbledon, wondering if you're going to ever play again.
"I feel overwhelmed to have a chance to be out here doing this, is just amazing to me."
Agassi has steadfastly denied that he will retire at season's end. As long as he can inspire his fans, he says, he will carry on.
Agassi was asked afterward if he ever surprised himself. He scratched his gleaming head.
"It's all a bit surreal," he said. "I get out there and try to work, and I come off the court and many times in my career I just feel it's been a dream.
"It's all surprising to me."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
