Agassi comes from brink to down Henman

Agassi comes from brink to down Henman

Miami, March 30: World number one Andre Agassi saved four match points and defeated Britain's Tim Henman 7-5 1-6 7-6 (12-10) here to reach the semi-finals of a $5.7 million Tennis Masters Series event.

Women's top seed Martina Hingis advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Amanda Coetzer.

Hingis, who needed 68 minutes to dispose South African, next faces American seventh seed Monica Seles, a 6-0 6-3 victor over American Amy Frazier.

Henman grabbed his first match point at 6-5 in the tie-breaker and his last at 10-9 but Agassi was equal to the task every time, surviving the last when Henman double faulted and set the stage for his downfall.

Agassi, who had blown a match point at 7-6, hit a passing winner on match point to end the battle in humid and muggy conditions.

Agassi took advantage of two errant volleys by Henman to break for a 6-5 lead and captured the first set in 51 minutes. But half-an-hour later, Henman had fired six second-set aces at Agassi and breezed into a third set with momentum.

Fatigue played a factor after that. Henman saved three break points in the fourth game and two others in the sixth before breaking Agassi in the seventh game and grabbing a 5-4 lead in the match. But the chance passed when Henman double faulted and Agassi cashed in the second of two break point chances, setting the stage for the tie-breaker.