Agassi looks to end Clement's fairy-tale run<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters): Flamboyant defending champion
\nAndre Agassi takes on French journeyman Arnaud Clement in a clash
\nof styles and cultures in Sunday's Australian Open final.<\/p>\n
The match will be aired live by RCTI at 10.00 a.m. Jakarta
\nTime.<\/p>\n
It shapes as a battle between one of the giants of the sport
\nand a talented, if relatively little-known, opponent who has
\ncarved his own slice of history with his unlikely charge through
\nthe season-opening grand slam.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old Agassi has collected six grand slam crowns
\nduring a glittering career in which he has stockpiled 45
\ntournament titles and more than US$21 million in prizemoney
\nalone.<\/p>\n
Clement, the 23-year-old 15th seed, wears low prescription
\nglasses and is known more for his speed around the court and
\nnever-say-die attitude than any on-court achievements.<\/p>\n
He won his first career ATP title at Lyon last November, after
\nmaking his first grand slam quarterfinals at the US Open, and has
\nearned just over $1.3 million in prizemoney since turning
\nprofessional in 1996.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman will face a mighty task in his first grand slam
\nfinal but has split his four matches with the sixth seeded Agassi
\nand has won their last two clashes.<\/p>\n
He beat the American in the fourth round of last year's U.S.
\nOpen and in the semifinals at Lyon, although Agassi was forced to
\nretire from that match with a hip injury.<\/p>\n
If any further proof was needed that Clement is not fazed by
\nbig names and big occasions, he showed it when he upset last
\nyear's runner-up Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarterfinals here.<\/p>\n
\"It depends how fit Andre really is himself. As far as I'm
\nconcerned, I'm fairly confident against him,\" Clement said after
\nstaging \"a small miracle\" to beat friend and doubles partner
\nSebastien Grosjean in a four-hour semifinal on Friday.<\/p>\n
The victory, in which the plucky righthander came back from
\ntwo sets and a break down and also saved two match points in the
\nthird set, made him the first Frenchman to reach an Australian
\nOpen final since Jean Borotra, one of the legendary Musketeers of
\nFrench tennis, won the title in 1928.<\/p>\n
He is also the first Frenchman to appear in a grand slam final
\nsince Cedric Pioline at Wimbledon in 1997, while the last
\nFrenchman to win a grand slam singles title was Yannick Noah at
\nthe 1983 French Open.<\/p>\n
His marathon match against Grosjean and a sore left thigh
\nwhich required strapping in his matches against Kafelnikov and
\nGrosjean will not help his claims in Sunday's final.<\/p>\n
Agassi has arrived in Australia in the sort of dominating form
\nthat carried him to three grand slam titles in four starts,
\nculminating with his victory here last year.<\/p>\n
Agassi has dropped just three sets in his six matches leading
\nup to the final.<\/p>\n
But he benefited when Germany's David Prinosil was forced to
\nquit their third round match with heat exhaustion and then Rafter
\nwas left struggling with cramps in their eagerly-awaited
\nsemifinal.<\/p>\n
Still, the American has grown with confidence as the
\ntournament has progressed.<\/p>\n
\"Career-wise, I have goals,\" Agassi said earlier in the
\ntournament.<\/p>\n
\"I'm out here to win. I'm out here to hopefully add some more
\ntitles and ideally handle myself in a certain way in the
\nprocess.\"<\/p>\n
\"I fall short many times, and that's the part that I think
\ninspires you to get up the next day, that you can do things a
\nlittle better.\"<\/p>\n
Asked about facing one of the Frenchmen after his win over
\nRafter, Agassi said: \"You don't play guys like that very often.
\nThey're a lot smaller and a lot faster, and their weapons are a
\nlot different than the ones you're normally facing.\"<\/p>\n
\"There's adjustments that have to be made.\"<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/agassi-looks-to-end-clements-fairy-tale-run-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }