Guga gallops past Agassi

Miami, April 1: Second-ranked Pete Sampras and Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten advanced to the Ericsson Open finals with triumphs here while worl...

Miami, April 1: Second-ranked Pete Sampras and Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten advanced to the Ericsson Open finals with triumphs here while world number one Andre Agassi struggled with an injured right leg.

Try as he did, hurting Agassi was helpless against the swift South American. “I didn’t stand a chance,” Agassi said. “You can hope for miracles, but I felt like there was nothing I could do that was going to make an impression on him. It was not a fun experience.”

The injury leaves Agassi a question mark for next week’s second-round Davis Cup tie between the US squad and the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.

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Agassi, who had 32 unforced errors in the match, offered a bit more resistance in the second set, but had trouble handling the speed of shots by Guga’, notably second serves. Kuerten captured his service break in the seventh game and went on to hold serve himself for a 5-3 edge. Agassi held but Kuerten won the final game without losing a point, concluding the match with his ninth ace of the day.

Sampras needed one hour and 43 minutes to dispatch Hewitt after capturing the first set in 28 minutes.

In the second set, Sampras surrendered two double faults in the fourth and eighth games, losing the later to give Hewitt a 5-3 edge he converted into a second-set triumph.

Sampras began the third set with more determination andran to a 4-1 lead, then concluded the match with his 15th and 16th aces.