They would not be his final bows, but Andre Agassi, the man who observes the rules of a compass each time he takes his leave of the packed Stadium Court, acknowledged all points north, south, east and west. And then, with his mission of reinvention in full swing here at the United States Open, he strode briskly into the semifinal round after causing yet another upset.
Last night's departee was the 13th-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria, a hard-driving, hard-grunting martial man who was trounced, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-0, by this event's own baroque boy, the pony-tailed and bejeweled Agassi.
"In hindsight now, I'm very surprised that I beat him," said the 20th-ranked Agassi, who was 1-4 against Muster coming into this quarterfinal match and harbored unkind memories of their five-set, second-round match at the French Open in the spring.
But that was just a slice of humble pie talking: on hardcourts, a surface that tugs unmercifully at Muster's rebuilt left knee, Agassi's baseline ballistics and easy scamper gave him the edge on agility.
Agassi's victory, his third at the expense of a seeded player, made him just the seventh unseeded contender in Open history to oust three seeds -- the first player to accomplish such derring-do was, in a strange and pleasing bit of cosmic connection, Francis X. Shields, the grandfather of Agassi's current sweetheart, the actress Brooke Shields.
To date, Agassi has implemented premature departures by 12th-seeded Wayne Ferreira, sixth-seeded Michael Chang and Muster. The demotion of his next opponent, ninth-seeded Todd Martin in an all-American semifinal, would make Agassi the first unseeded underdog to eliminate four seeded players at the Open.
But this is no ordinary underdog.
"I'm unseeded, and I've said it a lot, maybe too much, but I feel like I can win these matches," said Agassi, who came into this Open unseeded for the first time since 1987. "When I step on the court I feel like I want to win the match and that's not going to change, whatever number is next to my name.
"I've been further, so nothing is making me feel settled," said the Las Vegan, who reached the Open final in 1990 but had to wait until he worked his way into his third career Grand Slam final before he made his breakthrough at Wimbledon in 1992.
Martin Is Next Opponent
Agassi, 2-3 against Martin, with both victories coming outdoors on hardcourts like this one, said he wasn't about to stall now. "When you reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam it doesn't matter who's in your way," Agassi said. "Whether they beat you before or you've beaten them or whether you never played before, nothing matters but Saturday."
Certainly it didn't matter that Muster, with his harsh and heavy breathing and brute forehand forcefulness, was the first player to gain a service break. After losing the third game, Agassi struck back in the eighth game to force a tie breaker where he never trailed, the perfect scenario for this famous front-runner.
Agassi went up by 6-3 with a deft serve and forehand volley combo that sent Muster sprinting into the corner in vain, and although the Austrian fended off two set points, Agassi converted the third with a blistering crosscourt forehand.
"I weathered a storm in the first set and I felt good from there on in," said Agassi, who immediately reasserted himself by breaking Muster in the first game of the second set.
"He raised his game, definitely," said Muster, who felt Agassi's respect, and his own chances for dominating from the backcourt, eroding from the tie breaker onward.
Muster a Fair Sport
Muster, a fair sport even in the course of being outplayed, overruled a call by Dana Loconto, the umpire, on a close-cut Agassi return. The ensuing replay granted Agassi a second chance to earn a set point, which he duly accomplished with a backhand pass. At set point, Agassi's backhand return forced Muster to bang a forehand long.
By the third set, Muster, not a player who enjoys being relegated to the role of counterpuncher, was worn down and out from the effort of chasing Agassi's shots.
"The more he got confident, the better he played," said Muster, who has never passed this round at the Open and fell to Alexander Volkov here in last year's quarterfinal.
Of Agassi's flash finish, the Austrian said: "I can't run down every point, so I played more inside, and he played harder than me. Everything I did, he did better."
