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Agassi strengthens his Masters bid


STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Top seed Andre Agassi strengthened his challenge for a place in next month's ATP season final with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) semifinal victory over Tommy Haas at the Stockholm Open.

The 34-year-old Agassi looked sharp at the Kungligahallen as he defeated the German fourth seed for the sixth time in nine meetings.

The American now stands one victory away from his 60th title and will face home player Thomas Johansson in the final.

Johansson, the last Swede to win the event, in 2000, beat wildcard fellow countryman Michael Ryderstedt 6-3 6-2.

Agassi, with wife Steffi Graf watching from a discreet corner of the balcony-level players' box, along with infant son Jaden Gill, has improved his standing in the race for the eight-man Masters Cup, after being eighth as the week began.

With number seven Tim Henman going out in the Basel quarterfinals and needing to defend a title next week as the regular season wraps up in Paris, the scenario looks promising for Agassi.

Against Haas, the top seed stayed sharp from his favored position at the baseline, forcing the German into the errors in a tight, hard-fought contest.

The American wrapped up the victory as he sprinted to 5-1 in the second tie-breaker, holding off a brief fight-back from the German before claiming the win on Haas' 14th unforced error of the afternoon.

At the start, Agassi put Haas under immediate pressure, forcing the German to escape break points on his first two service games. But Agassi faced the same problem in the sixth game, saving two as he leveled at 3-all.

Haas earned the first break, taking a 5-3 lead. But the deficit only inspired Agassi to close it, with the veteran breaking back in the next game for 4-5 and squaring it up with an ace, 5-5.

As the tightly wound contest moved into a tie-breaker, Agassi again demonstrated his powers of recovery, climbing back from 2-5 down.

He earned a set point from a Haas return wide, and nailed the set after a 70-minute struggle from a scooped forehand winner which just cleared the net to wild applause form the sellout crowd of 5,000.

"I just tried to stay alive out there," said Agassi. "I got pushed back, not because I wanted to, but Tommy hits the ball real solid."


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