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NEW YORK -- Midway through their first set at the U.S. Open,
Arnaud Clement began huffing and puffing, chasing down Andre
Agassi's shots from one side of the court to the other.
And right then, it was clear that the 21-year-old Frenchman who
gave Agassi so much trouble on the red clay of Roland Garros, would
be no problem on the green hard courts of the National Tennis
Center.
| |  | | Chile's Marcelo Rios, the No. 10 seed, reacts during his 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 loss to French qualifier Nicolas Escude. |
Clement, who came within two points of beating Agassi at the
French Open, arrived for this round-of-16 match Monday wearing a
bandana and wraparound goggles. He could have used a bicycle to
keep up with the second-seeded Agassi, who advanced into the
quarterfinals of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
What was the difference from the French Open, Agassi was asked.
"I played him at the U.S. Open," he said. "It's a hardcourt.
It's much different. He's very fast. When he has time, he can
really take the ball with a backhand and hurt you. On the
hardcourt, I can hit through a little bit easier, end the point
when it calls for it."
At the French, Clement was up a set and leading 30-0 in the
fourth before Agassi won nine straight games to turn the match
around. That win came at the start of a stretch that has now
produced 32 victories in 36 matches for Agassi.
No dramatic comeback was necessary on a humid afternoon when the air seemed as heavy as some of Agassi's serves and Clement was left to toss his racket in frustration.
"I felt good, start to finish, Agassi said. "I was making him
earn everything out there."
Agassi led the French player on a merry chase, some of his shots
kissing the lines, others overpowering his opponent. Invariably,
Clement would go one way and Agassi's shots would go the other way.
Passing shots, ground strokes, short points, long points, Agassi
brought the whole arsenal on the lightning-fast court.
"It's never my intention to keep a point going if I can end
it," Agassi said. "He's quick and doesn't give you much pace. He
can bait you into taking unnecessary risks. You don't want to fall
victim to that.
"You want to play disciplined tennis, punching the clock, stay
disciplined with your shot selection."
On one Clement return that was well wide, Agassi hit a winner
anyway, just because he could.
Clement did manage to break Agassi in one game, no small
accomplishment at the Open, where that had happened just once
before.
In the end, Agassi just wore his man down.
"My game is built around my work ethic," he said, "making
every point as valuable as the last, getting on top of my opponent
and sucking the life out of him."
At 29, Agassi keeps reinventing himself.
After getting as high as No. 2 in the rankings in 1994 when he
won the Open and 1995 when he won the Australian Open, his ranking
dipped as low as 122 two years ago, when he sat out three Slams,
playing only at Flushing Meadows.
He then dedicated himself to coming back and says he now is in
better shape that at any time in his career. The reason? "Hard
work," he said.
"It's individual why people break down," he said. "I never
fell in the rankings because of injuries. My game didn't leave me.
I fell because I wasn't in shape. There's a certain work ethic to
why I fell. I knew I could address it."
He finished 1998 ranked sixth in the world, then won the French,
completing a personal Grand Slam. Then he reached the finals at
Wimbledon and now is in position to finish the year as No. 1 in the
world if he wins the Open.
Next for Agassi is the quarterfinals against qualifier Nicolas
Escude, who upset No. 10 Marcelo Rios 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, becoming the first men's qualifier in the Open era to reach the quarters.
"He has a real good backhand, a sneaky first serve," Agassi
said. "He's obviously playing well, but I never would have guessed
that he would have won in straight sets here (against Rios). Three
sets today, a day and a half off, he'll be ready all right. I have
no intention of making any further dreams come true for him."
In the other men's fourth-round matches, No. 3 Yevgeny
Kafelnikov downed Andrei Medvedev 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-0 and No. 12 Richard Krajicek defeated Vince Spadea 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
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 Andre Agassi is being "patient" on the tennis court.
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