| | Results
NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi, becoming a regular in Grand Slam
championship matches, moved into the U.S. Open finals Saturday and
took over the No. 1 ranking.
| |  | | Todd Martin will make his second appearance in a Grand Slam final. |
He beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals
and will face Todd Martin in an all-American final on Sunday.
This will be the third straight Grand Slam tournament final for
Agassi, who won the French Open and lost to Pete Sampras in the
Wimbledon final.
Earlier, Martin made swift work of Cedric Pioline, dominating in
every phase in winning 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. Martin is playing in his
second Grand Slam tournament final. In 1994, he lost to Sampras for
the Australian Open title.
Agassi, whose ranking had dropped to 141st almost two years ago,
advances from No. 2 and will replace Sampras at No. 1. Sampras
withdrew from this tournament with a bad back before play began two
weeks ago.
Kafelnikov will be No. 2 when the new ATP Tour rankings are
released Monday. Sampras will drop to No. 3, with Martin moving up
to No. 4.
In the first set, it was as if Agassi failed to show. Kafelnikov
controlled the points and hit winners from the baseline.
"It was breezy. ... I struggled with my rhythm," Agassi said.
Everything changed in the second set as Agassi's groundstrokes
found the corners and sidelines. He kept the Russian running from
side to side, and Agassi finally found the rhythm on his serve.
Bit by bit, Agassi broke down Kafelnikov. And when Kafelnikov's
weak shot was buried into the net on the third match point, Agassi
was into the U.S. Open title match for the fourth time.
He won America's premier tennis event in 1994 and was runner-up
in 1990 and '95.
Pioline could do little against Martin amid the gusts and bright
sunshine at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"I think he got frustrated with the condition," said Martin,
seeded seventh. "It was really windy."
After breaking Martin in the ninth game to put the opening set
back on serve, Pioline's classic game disappeared. Martin didn't
have to come up with brilliance, just a safe, patient game. He did
that to perfection, finishing with 14 aces while keeping the
Frenchman off-balance with his shot selection.
"I got in a rhythm, and he lost his," Martin said.
Martin made 11 unforced errors in the first set and only 10 more
the rest of the match. Pioline, on the other hand, made seven
unforced errors in the first set, 10 in the second and 14 in the
third.
The 96-minute match was by far the quickest of the tournament
for Martin, who had reached the semifinals after playing two
five-setters in his first five outings.
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