TNT Sports
Safin back to his best
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Published 23/10/2004 at 17:46 GMT+1
Russia's Marat Safin was back to his best to beat second seed Andre Agassi 6-3 7-6 to set up a championship match with David Nalbandian of Argentina at Madrid Masters. Safin looked focus from the beginning and didn't drop his serve once in the match.
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Safin dominated the game from the start, using his strong service and some daring baseline shots to peg back Agassi, who looked tense and tired after a three-set quarter-final battle with Spain's Tommy Robredo.
"It's a long time since I've played as well as that - a really long time," Safin said.
"I knew Agassi would be a little tired after a long match yesterday, so I just concentrated on my serve. I'm really surprised I played so well from the baseline."
The number three seed broke the American six games in and easily held on to his lead to close out the set.
Agassi, Madrid champion in 2002, rarely threatened during the second set, despite the support of a packed crowd. He set up three break points but was unable to convert any of them and struggled to hold on to most of his service games.
He managed to shake off his opponent to claim an early lead in the tie-break but Safin came back to take it 7-4 and complete victory in 94 minutes.
"Safin has a really big game," Agassi said. "When it's firing on all cylinders its as good as anyone's. He can make it look very easy."
In the earlier semi-final fourth seeded Nalbandian beat Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 6-4.
Unseeded Ljubicic, whose quarter-final match on Friday lasted almost three hours, looked sluggish and over-reliant on a serve that was not enough to hold off Nalbandian.
The Argentine broke in the third game and outclassed Ljubicic in a series of rallies to claim the set.
Ljubicic, who knocked out top seed Tim Henman, was more focused at the start of the second set but was broken in the ninth game to go 5-4 down.
He set up three break points but was unable to convert them and Nalbandian - who has yet to lose a set in this year's tournament - served out in under an hour and a half.
"It wasn't easy at all, he won serve easily," said the Argentine. "Luckily I found his rhythm and could take advantage of it."
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