WIMBLEDON 2000

REVIEWS BY MARK NEWMAN

RAFTER UPSETS AGASSI ON HIS WAY TO MEETING SAMPRAS IN FINAL

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(12) Patrick Rafter def. (2) Andre Agassi 7-5 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-3

Patrick Rafter dashed any hopes of an All-American final at Wimbledon, outlasting Andre Agassi in a thrilling five-set match.

12th-seed Rafter defeated the 2nd-seed Agassi, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 today to advance to his first Wimbledon final. He is the first Australian to reach the Wimbledon final since Pat Cash in 1987.

Rafter, two-time US Open champion, will face top-seed American Pete Sampras, who wearily battled through to defeat 237th-ranked qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4.

Sampras has won Wimbledon for six of the last seven years and will seek a record 13th Grand Slam title on Sunday.

Rafter got his own back for a loss to Agassi in last year's semifinal and defeated the 1992 Wimbledon champion for just the fourth time in eleven meetings.

Victory is sweet for Rafter, who underwent shoulder surgery in October and struggled in the early part of the season. But he has returned to his best form on grass, winning eleven straight matches and a title at a Wimbledon warm-up event at ‘s-Hertogenbosch two weeks ago.

Agassi, who hadn’t dropped a set in his previous three matches, did not help himself, double-faulting eight times, some at crucial times.

The final double-fault came in the sixth game of the fifth set, giving Rafter hope for a break, which he got one point later, opening up a 4-2 lead. Agassi lost the final 15 points to finish the three-hour, 18-minute match.

Sampras showed no signs of the ankle injury suffered in the second round, although he is still not practicing, not wanting to push things too far.

Sampras, who has yet to face a seeded player here, was lucky to get away with the first set tiebreak after a heartbreaking volley-miss from Voltchkov at 4-4 in the tiebreak. Sampras charged through the second and third sets though, and it is hard to imagine that the end-result would have been any different, even if Sampras had have dropped the opening set.

Other News

Venus and Serena Williams advanced to the doubles final with a straight sets win over Natasha Zvereva and Anna Kournikova. They will play Julie Halard-Decugis and Ai Sugiyama for the title.