Apr 28, 2002 2 min read

HOUSTON (AP) – Pete Sampras, winless in 24 tournaments since taking his seventh Wimbledon title in 2000, beat second-seeded Andre Agassi 6-1, 7-5 on Saturday night to advance to the final of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. Sampras will face third-seeded Andy Roddick, a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 winner over Argentina’s Guillermo Coria.

Sampras is 19-14 lifetime against Agassi, but it was only the second time in five meetings that Sampras beat Agassi on clay.

“Just playing him is unique,” Sampras said.

The best game of the match was the 12th and final game of the match, after Sampras broke Agassi to take a 6-5 lead.

With Sampras serving for the match, Agassi fought off four match points before Sampras ended it with an ace.

“I thought he played very well and got off to a good start,” Agassi said. “When you fall behind early, it’s sometimes difficult to catch up. I tried to get my teeth into it, but I never settled in.”

Sampras had Agassi at double-match point, but Sampras then hit a forehand error and double-faulted for deuce. Agassi returned a service winner to avoid the third match point and hit a forehand down the line to erase the fourth match point.

Roddick overcame gusty wind that threw his serve off course and rallied to beat Coria. Roddick blasted his way through the first set after breaking Coria in the sixth game but trouble started in the second game of the second set after Roddick started the game with a 30-0 lead.

Roddick double faulted three times in the game and lost it at the third break point with a backhand error. Roddick’s backhand also left him in the second set. He had 11 backhand errors in the second set.

Roddick finally settled down in the final set. He broke Coria in the third game with a forehand pass after Coria hit a drop shot.

Coria eluded three match points to hold his serve in the seventh game and Roddick won it at the fifth match point when a net cord by Coria bounced high and out of bounds.

“I felt OK and played well but I needed to play better on the important points,” Coria said. “I’m still happy the way I played.”