ACOG - News - IBM

(1 August 1996; Day 13)

AGASSI-BRUGUERA Final May Be a Battle After All

The men's tennis talk around Stone Mountain Park the last two weeks has been, understandably, all about American Andre AGASSI. Competing for a gold medal on his favorite surface (hardcourts) in his favorite country (his own), in front of his favorite fans (American), gave the tournament's top-seed an advantage before Olympic play even began.

Taking into consideration that seven of AGASSI's Top 10 rivals decided to sit out the Games altogether, after a 7-6 (5), 6-3 semifinal victory over Leander PAES (IND) Thursday, the general consensus is that, as expected, the American has the singles gold medal sewn up.

What the tennis pundits haven't counted on is the resurgence of Spain's Sergi BRUGUERA, a two-time French Open singles champion (1993 and '94) and one of the world's ten best players just one year ago. Unseeded entering the Olympic championships after a disappointing '96 season, BRUGUERA has reinvented himself while rolling through the men's singles draw, guaranteeing at least a silver medal Thursday with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Brazil's Fernando MELIGENI.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," BRUGUERA said of advancing to his first-ever Olympic final. "It's a very important moment in my career, because I passed through very tough moments this year. I didn't win too many matches, I was injured, I wasn't playing well, and everything was not going well. But I'm still fighting and very excited to be here."

Things may have finally turned around for BRUGUERA, as the gold medal match marks his first appearance in a singles final this year. While a 2-5 career record against AGASSI -- 0-2 on hardcourts -- indicate the odds may still be against him, even AGASSI admits that the Spaniard is a sincere gold medal contender.

"I'm glad we're on hard courts," AGASSI said of BRUGUERA's ability. "If we were on clay courts, I would be stressing a bit. To say the hardcourt favors me doesn't mean I'm going to go out there and win the match, it just means that it's a much more comfortable (surface) for me than for him."

But even on hardcourts, AGASSI has had his troubles, narrowly escaping elimination at 5-4 down in the third in his quarterfinal match with Wayne FERREIRA (RSA). But like BRUGUERA, AGASSI has survived this far, and the Spaniard acknowledges he will have to battle for the gold medal.

"I've played Andre many times," BRUGUERA said of his opponent. "When he's on, he's the best player in the world, especially on these (hard) courts. From what I see, he's playing very well and is (focused) on the Olympics. It will be a very difficult match for me."

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Melissa Horton.


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The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts.