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Master and Commander: Agassi Meets Nadal For Montreal Title
Tennis Week
August 13th, 2005
The U.S. Open Series will be must-see TV on Sunday when two of tennis� top stars collide in Montreal. In a highly-anticipated match between two charismatic competitors, the ageless Andre Agassi meets the tireless Rafael Nadal in their first career clash in the Rogers Cup final.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Nadal turned back Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 7-5, to advance to his fourth consecutive Masters Series final. It is the ATP-best 10th tournament final of the year for Nadal, who has claimed all eight of his tournament titles this season on clay.
The fourth-seeded Agassi completed a 6-3, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio this afternoon. The match began Friday night, but was suspended due to rain after Agassi won the first set. Agassi returned to the court Saturday night and outclassed Greg Rusedski, 6-4, 6-4, to reach his first Masters Series final since he beat three former top-ranked players Carlos Moya, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt to win Cincinnati last August.
Seeking his first career hard-court title, Nadal is facing one of the best hard-court champions of the Open Era in Agassi, who owns an ATP-record 17 Masters Series shields, is seeking his third career Rogers Cup crown.
The 35-year-old Agassi is looking forward to putting his game to the test against the 19-year-old Nadal, who was three months old when Agassi made his Grand Slam debut at the 1986 U.S. Open.
"Nadal has been unbelievable he has a great game," said Agassi, who won the Los Angeles title in his last tournament. "It�s pain when he dictates so I hope to prevent that. He�s such a great mover, he forces you to hit those extra shots and he wins so many points when he seems out of it. I�m just going to play my game " you never know until you try. I�m really pumped to be here."
Nadal, who let a two-set lead slip away in falling to Roger Federer in the Nasdaq-100 Open final on hard court in April, beat Guillermo Coria to win Monte Carlo on red clay before fighting back from a fifth-set deficit to end an electrifying encounter by converting his third match point in scoring a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory over Coria in the Telecom Italia Masters final in Rome.
Winning streaks will be on the line as the top-seeded Nadal has won 15 straight matches using his exceptional court coverage and stinging topspin strokes to subdue opponents; Agassi, who has persistently punished opponents with his crisp crosscourt combinations, enters the final with a 10-match winning streak.
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