It has all the ingredients for a classic match-up.
Two of the biggest names in tennis. The ageing former champion playing in his final Wimbledon versus the young dynamo trying to make his breakthrough on grass. The bald, pigeon-toed American versus the long-maned, biceps-bulging Spaniard.
Andre Agassi against Rafael Nadal is coming on Saturday.
”He’s a very confident, great competitor,” Agassi said. ”Needless to say, very talented and fit. So it’s going to be a hard match.”
The 36-year-old Agassi, playing his 14th and last Wimbledon before retirement later this year, swept into the third round on Thursday by beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
The 20-year-old Nadal, the two-time French Open champion with a 60-match winning streak on clay, had a much tougher time. He came from two sets down, and two points from defeat in the fourth set, to overcome 237th-ranked American qualifier Robert Kendrick 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-4.
It was a gutsy performance by Nadal, a relative grass-court novice who is playing Wimbledon for the third time and has never been past the third round. Facing Agassi, the 1992 Wimbledon champion and eight-time grand-slam winner, is a much bigger challenge.
”It’s a nice match for me, it’s a nice match for everybody,” Nadal said. ”I know he won here. He has a very good level here. But I am in the third round, no? I am playing good. This match is going to be positive. I know I need to play my best tennis to win.”
Agassi and Nadal have met only once, with the Spaniard winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Masters Series event in Montreal on hard courts last year. The conditions will be much different this time.
”It’s a whole set of circumstances here,” Agassi said. ”In Montreal, it was a very fast, high-bouncing court. His ball was just ugly. Here, the ball doesn’t bounce as high, which hopefully will allow me to set a little bit more my ground strokes.”
Among the interested observers will be two-time runner-up Andy Roddick, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over Germany’s Florian Mayer.
”I’m as excited as anybody,” he said. ”I think that’s going to be a great one. I think they might put it on centre [court].”
Scheduled on court one on Friday was three-time defending champion Roger Federer, facing a third-round match against 77th-ranked Nicolas Mahut of France, winner of Junior Wimbledon 2000. On the women’s side, number two Kim Clijsters was paired against Zheng Jie of China, and number three Justine Henin-Hardenne against Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.
Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, was due back to finish his match against South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik. They split the first four sets on Thursday before play was suspended by darkness.
Agassi, who played sparingly this year because of chronic back problems, is relieved to get through matches without feeling any pain.
”It’s been too long since I’ve just felt good and was in a place where I could at least enjoy what’s going on out there, the competition, and the focus,” he said. ”That’s been my goal, just to find my game so I can at least bring it. Today, I was closer to that.”
His victory moved Agassi into a second-place tie with Ivan Lendl for the most match wins (222) at grand-slam tournaments in the Open era. Jimmy Connors tops the list with 233. Agassi is also the oldest man to reach the third round here since Connors in 1991 at age 38.
Agassi knows he will have to take Nadal out of his game and keep him from dictating the points the way he does on clay.
”When he gets hold of a point, he doesn’t let it go,” Agassi said. ”You see a lot of great players that once they take over a point, it’s, ‘Good night, point’s over. You’ll never get the point back from me.’ Once he gets on top of a point, he squeezes it every time.”
The crowd will certainly favour Agassi — just like after his opening-round win on Tuesday on centre court, when he received a raucous standing ovation from the fans on court one.
”It means the world to me,” he said. ”I want to go out there and do something special for them. I always want to play well, but especially now. I still want to win. I still want to be out there giving people something to cheer for.” — Sapa-AP