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| Andre Agassi holds up the
Master Series trophy at center court after winning his
final match over Lleyton Hewitt in Cincinnati, August 8,
2004.(Agencies) |
Andre Agassi confirmed his remarkable return to
form when he beat Australian Lleyton Hewitt (news) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to win
his first title in nine months at the Cincinnati Masters
Series on Sunday.
The 34-year-old 11th seed's triumph over a fellow former number one was
the Las Vegan's 59th career title and silenced the doubters who believed
he was all but finished.
The victory was also the oldest by any player on the ATP tour since a 37-year-old Jimmy
Connors won in Toulouse in 1989.
"Lleyton's more of a counter-puncher than me," an
emotional Agassi said.
"He has faster wheels and absorbs pace better. He wanted to settled
into using his legs and I didn't want to be too aggressive. It was cat and
mouse and I made a few good decisions at the right time.
"It couldn't have come at a better time for me. I am overwhelmed. It's
been a bit of a struggle for me this year. There's no way I can say what
it means to me. It's amazing."
The early pattern of the match showed that while Hewitt had a little
more speed of foot, Agassi was often able to produce sharper angles, and
it was he who forced the only break of serve in the first set.
It was only the second time Hewitt had been broken in the tournament.
However, the 10th seeded Hewitt bounced back in the second set, forcing
the eight-times grand slam winner into a series of errors to take the
match into a deciding set.
Agassi shrugged off the
loss of the second set and raced into a 4-1 lead in the third before
withstanding another Hewitt fightback to break again in the eight game
when the Australian double
faulted on match point.
"I have shown here that if I let my game go I can give the guys a lot
to deal with," said Agassi, who is missing the Athens Olympics to
concentrate on the US Open in three weeks time.
"I only wish the Open was next week."
The charismatic American had suffered a depressing run, raising
speculation that he would soon call it a day after losing in the first
round of the French Open, one of three consecutive opening-round defeats,
and missing Wimbledon.
He was also knocked out in
the second round of the Toronto Masters, just before Cincinnati, by
Austria's Jurgen Melzer, ranked 62 in the world.
However, Agassi put in a series of confident performances at this
event, beating fourth seed Carlos Moya (news) and defending champion Andy Roddick (news),
the world number two, on his way to the title.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-08-09 10:44