Andre Agassi played about as well as he can play Thursday. He tried everything and then some. He offered Juan Carlos Ferrero a great variety of shot and purpose. He gave a strategic variety.

	Cliff's Take
	Drysdale A former player instrumental in forming the ATP, Cliff Drysdale is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the French Open. Drysdale, a tennis analyst for ESPN, has been a tennis commentator for ESPN since its very first tennis telecast.

But Ferrero is fit and strong. He's huge off both wings. He's the consummate, modern clay-court player. He is the best clay-court player outside of a fit Gustavo Kuerten.

Agassi was very close though. After the rain delay he was down 6-3, 1-0, but Agassi won the second set 7-5. Agassi lost three break points when they were tied at 5-5 in the third. In the final set, he was down 5-1 and he had chances to break Ferrero's serve. Unfortunately, he did not convert those breaks and lost his next service game. Agassi lost 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

So, Agassi had his chances, but Ferrero is tough.

The semifinal between Ferrero and the No. 2 seed Marat Safin will be a huge match. Safin played extremely well today against Sebastien Grosjean winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Safin's looking very confident. He's got the most powerful game left in the tournament by a long way. It was certainly too much for Grosjean, who has a mild injury. Grosjean needed to be 100 percent to beat Safin the way he played today.