Kuerten conquers injured Agassi

Andre Agassi, who surivived four match points against Britain's Tim Henman in the quarter-finals of the Ericsson Open here, was unable to respond to the consistency of the Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten in the semi-finals yesterday.

Kuerten, the No 6 seed, defeated the world No 1, 6-1, 6-4, Agassi's challenge looking ominously token after he took an injury time out to have a sprained ankle strapped and taped at the end of the first set.

"You can hope for miracles, but I felt there was nothing I was able to do from the ground that that was going to make an impression on him," Agassi said. "I took a bit of a pounding in my last match. I sprained my ligament, a mild strain. The problem was my that my leg was cramping when I played Tim, so I wasn't quite aware of the damage to the ligament."

This was not a day to be lacking fitness against a player with Kuerten's depth of shot, particularly when temperatures reached 91F. Backed by small but vocal groups of Brazilian supporters chanting his nickname, "Gu-ga!", Kuerten remained steady throughout, even on occasions when he was unconvinced by some of the line calls.

Kuerten, who had lost his last four matches against Agassi, defeated the Las Vegan for the third time in seven meetings and for the first time since the first round in Cincinnati in 1997, when Kuerten was the French Open champion.

Agassi, a loser in the opening round of his last two tournaments before coming here, is expected to recover from the injury in time for next week's Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic.

Kuerten has advanced to the final after saving a match point against Arnaud Clement, of France, in the first round. His opponent tomorrow will be either Pete Sampras or Australia's Lleyton Hewitt.

Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis are due to meet today in their 12th consecutive WTA Tour final. Davenport has won eight, including the last five. Since their first match, in the second round in Sydney in 1995, Davenport has won 11 times, Hingis seven.

Davenport's superiority will be reflected in next Monday's rankings, when she will supplant Hingis as the world No 1, though not by as big a margin as her recent results would appear to merit. The Californian has won 35 of her last 36 matches since September last year. Her only loss was to Amelie Mauresmo, of France, in Sydney.

It remains to be seen whether Davenport can continue her domination of her 19-year-old Swiss rival on the Stadium Court here this evening and win the tourmament for the first time at the ninth attempt. Her previous best performances were appearances in the semi-finals in 1994 and 1996.

Hingis has several reasons to be encouraged in her belief that she will be able to overcome Davenport's greater power today. One factor is that she may be the fresher player, having needed only 39 minutes to dispatch Monica Seles,6-0, 6-0, in the semi-finals of Thursday, when Seles's mobility was restricted by an ankle injury.

Davenport was detained on court for two hours by Sandrine Testud, of France, in Thursday's other semi-final, recovering from 1-3 in the final set to win, 6-1, 6-7, 7-6, and securing the No 1 ranking and a place in the final. The contest finished at midnight. The American's left foot started to hurt at 4-4 in the final set. "I'm hoping it was just bruised," she said.

She is looking forward to today's challenge. "The last few times, I've been able to overpower Martina," she said. "She just doesn't like to play me. I just frustrate her, I guess."

Results from the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida:

Men Singles Semi-finals

(6) Gustavo Kuerten (Br) def. (1) Andre Agassi (US) 6-1, 6-4. (2) Pete Sampras (US) def. (14) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Doubles Semi-finals

Martin Damm (Cz Rep) and Dominik Hrbaty (Slovak) def. Alex O'Brien and Jared Palmer (US) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Women Doubles Semi-finals

Julie Halard-Decugis (Fr) and Ai Sugiyama (Japan) def. Anke Huber (Ger) and Barbara Schett (Aut) 6-2, 7-6 (5). Nicole Arendt (US) and Manon Bollegraf (Neth) def. Liezel Horn (SA) and Laura Montalvo (Arg) 7-6 (5), 6-2.