Friday, September 06, 2002
A match for the ages: Agassi vs. Hewitt
By STEVE WILSTEIN
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK — Andre Agassi laughed the first time he saw Lleyton Hewitt, a scrawny, 16-year-old high school junior with straggly hair, backward cap and safety pins holding up his baggy shorts.
Hewitt was a runt, maybe 5-foot-9 in his sneakers and three pairs of socks. Ballboys were bigger and stronger. So were the ballgirls. He looked as if he had been picked out of the crowd in a cute public relations stunt: local kid meets his idol. If Hewitt had pulled out a pen and pad and asked for his autograph, Agassi wouldn't have been surprised.
They were in Adelaide, Australia, Hewitt's hometown, and the tournament was a tuneup for the 1998 Australian Open. Hewitt was crawling up the rankings between classes and had reached No. 550. Agassi had been No. 1 and would be again, but at the moment he was on a pit stop at No. 122, working his way back from injuries and a journey to the nether world of the Challenger tour.
“I didn't believe it, that that was my opponent,” Agassi says now, smiling at the memory. “He just seemed like he had a couple of strings hanging in his shoes.”
Two hours later, Agassi wasn't laughing anymore. He was ticked off. The kid was a cocky baseliner with fiery eyes who ran wind sprints all over the court on a broiling day, making Agassi dizzy just watching him. Hewitt served soft but he chased everything down, and when it was over he had beaten Agassi, 7-6, 7-6, to reach the final.
“I was like 0-for-17 on breakpoints,” Agassi says. “We didn't break each other the whole match.”
Hewitt went on to win the tournament, becoming the youngest tour winner since Michael Chang in 1988 and the lowest-ranked winner in tour history.
Now at No. 1, the defending U.S. Open champion and reigning Wimbledon champ, Hewitt is a tad taller, serves like the big boys and still chases down balls like a roadrunner, the way he did in that first match against Agassi.
When they meet Saturday in the Open semifinals, their first Grand Slam match, Hewitt will be coming in with three straight victories over Agassi and a 4-2 lead overall.
The difference in their ages — Agassi, at 32, is 11 years older — means little. Agassi looked as if he could play all night when he won a four-setter against Max Mirnyi in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
“He's in great shape, I don't care what age he is,” Hewitt says. “He looks as fit as ever to me. He looks stronger than he's been probably in the past as well. I can't recall too many matches that Andre's lost because of his fitness. So I throw his age right out the window.”
Hewitt reckoned he also could throw out his last couple of victories over him — in San Jose in February and Cincinnati last month. This time, it's best-of-five in a U.S. Open with a crowd that's going to be 99 percent for Agassi.
This is a match that has all the signs of a classic in the making. It's Hewitt coming on in his career and Agassi on his way out, yet both close to their peak. They're the dominant baseliners of their eras and, at this moment, their eras are colliding.
Hewitt has the edge in speed and range. He doesn't create points so much as he whacks winners every chance he gets. Agassi is stronger, a master tactician who tries to control points from midcourt and wear down opponents. Trouble is, Hewitt can run all day.
They both can crank up serves in the 125 mph range, though Hewitt may have a slight advantage with his accuracy as he peppers the corners.
“It's a fine line you walk against somebody like Lleyton,” Agassi says. “You want to certainly take some chances, but you can't afford to take unnecessary risks. I think that's the balance that you always try to walk. ... You want to control points, but you don't want to press. It's about playing the right shot at the right time.”
Hewitt sizes up the challenge this way:
“He obviously hits the ball extremely clean and extremely well from the back of the court. It's tough to get too many cheap points. His serve is very underrated. ... He hits it in a position where he's going to get that next short ball and pound his groundies, which he does so well.”
The best matches are usually the ones between players of contrasting styles — puncher vs. counterpuncher, baseliner vs. serve-and-volleyer.
This time, as similar as Agassi and Hewitt are, the sizzle will come from their long, brutal rallies and a history that began four years ago when Hewitt was still wearing safety pins.
———
Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein@ap.org
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A match for the ages: Agassi vs. Hewitt
