By Richard Pagliaro
01/30/2004

Sudden death was once a way of life for Marat Safin. Tennis' towering terminator was the reason tennis balls and his own racquets were classified at the top of tennis' endangered species list. This was a six-foot-four powerhouse who played with the punishing power of a player intent on deconstructing the ball with each vicious swing — and that's when he wasn't smashing racquets faster than the Incredible Hulk shreds shirts.

When the 2002 Australian Open finalist stepped on court to face four-time Australian Open champion Andre Agassi for a place in the Australian Open final today, tension tightened to the the point where the match reached the breaking point before the first point was played: either Agassi's 26-match Melbourne winning streak would snap or Safin would snap himself.

Something had to give and ultimately it was Safin — he gave everything he had.

Digging down so deep in the decisive set you half expected him to pull out a shovel from his racquet bag, Safin played with passion and purpose to produce a dramatic 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 1-6, 6-3 victory that propelled him into this third major final. Safin awaits the winner of tonight's semifinal between second-seeded Roger Federer and third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero. The 24-year-old Russian is 4-3 against Ferrero and 1-3 against Federer.

It was an enthralling encounter between two of the best aggressive baseliners in tennis who traded titanic shots in a dramatic duel that spanned three hours, 42 minutes. Safin, who attacked astutely in his victory over Roddick, chose to stand on the baseline and trade tremendously-timed topspin strokes with Agassi, resulting in some of the most exciting exchanges of the tournament.

In the end, Safin became the first player in five years to beat Agassi in Melbourne.

"That was one of the best matches in my whole life," a smiling Safin said. "I'm barely standing right now, but you have give 100 percent. I don't have anything inside me right now, but there's not many matches to go so you have to give everything."

It was an extraordinary effort from Safin, who has survived a brutal draw that saw him beat three former Grand Slam finalists — rallying from a two sets to one deficit to defeat former Oz Open finalist Todd Martin in five sets, toppling top-seeded Andy Roddick 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and outlasting the ageless Agassi in five sets today — despite the fact he had not played a major in a year and his preparation for this tournament was confined to the Hopman Cup, a mixed-team exhibition event in Perth.

"Like I said before, even before the tournament, I said I'm not coming here just to make a couple of good matches and to lose in like the fourth round, in the quarterfinals," Safin said. "People tell me I will try to play not bad, but like it little bit. I didn't come for that. Like I said, I came here to try to win it. And I'm almost there. Just one left to go. So, like I said, everything is going my way for the moment."

A master of so many major moments himself, Agassi had opportunities to take control of the match early. The 33-year-old Agassi earned a set point at 5-4 in the first set, but could not convert as Safin staved off the set point with a blistering backhand pass then hit a forehand winner to hold serve to take the set into a tiebreaker. Agassi, who had played pretty clean tennis throughout the first set, was unsettled in hitting a series of unforced errors as Safin took the tiebreak, 8-6. In the second set, Agassi served to level the match, but one of the game's best closers could not seal the set against a stubborn Safin, who refused to lose and took the second set in a tiebreaker.

"It was a tough one today. I mean, Marat played at an incredibly high level, and he came up with a lot of great shots when he needed to," Agassi said."You know, I had chances in the first two sets, sort of slipped away. A couple set points in the first, served for the second. Set point in the breaker in the second. You know, that's a big hole, two sets to love down. And, you know, the fifth was just a break of serve. I missed two regulation cross-court shots to lose my serve from 30-all, and I didn't recover from that."

Though Agassi was down, he summoned up the strength to lift his level of play yet again and took the third set, 7-5. In the fourth, Agassi earned an early break and Safin, who had spent twice as much time on the court as Agassi (15 hours, eight minutes compared to seven hours, 23 minutes) in his five prior matches essentially conceded the set to conserve his energy for one final fight in the fifth.

"I decided to, you know, just leave it because I felt like I couldn't win the fourth set because he was playing pretty good, and just I lost a little bit the concentration," Safin said. "So I tried to … just like finish the set and start all over again in the fifth."

Serving first, Safin scored the only break of the set in the fourth game and closed out a momentous match with confidence.

"I felt like I had the momentum, certainly (going into the fifth set)," Agassi said. "Felt pretty good about my chances at that point. But, you know, when a guy has a weapon like that, you know, he was serving so well tonight, you can get through so many games without sort of spending that energy and hitting those crucial nervous shots, you know, where you force a guy to do something. So I knew the match was well in balance just because of that alone, but I definitely felt like I had the momentum going into the fifth."

What more can you say about Agassi that his performances in recent years haven't already said? This is a man who basically blew off the Australian Open for the first eight years of his career, in part because it interrupted his holiday celebration. The first time he showed up in Melbourne, he won the tournament and has taken home the title four times in eight appearances. Critics once dismissed him as more poseur than player, but very few champions have evolved as effectively and aged as gracefully as Agassi in recent years.

Whether you root for him or not, you have to respect the eight-time Grand Slam champion for the effort he exudes and the reverence and respect he brings to a sport he has truly embraced. Winning isn't everything, but Agassi puts everything into winning.

As Agassi walked off the court, the crowd applauded his effort with a resounding roar that clearly touched him.

"They've been great to me over the years. Just a lot of fun to compete in front of," Agassi said. "And you never know when it's your last, right? So you want to say bye properly."

Agassi's adieu arrived as Safin declared his return as a Grand Slam force.

It has been a remarkable result for Safin, who arrived in Melbourne unseeded after suffering torn ligaments in his left wrist in the first-round last year. His injury sidelined Safin for three months last year, forced him to miss the final three Slams of the season and when he returned to tournament tennis he bottomed out in the opening-round, ending a dismal season by suffering six first-round setbacks. Agassi played almost as many Grand Slam matches in 2003 (a total of 22) than Safin played in the entire 2003 season (23), but despite his lack of match play and unseeded status, Safin competed as capably as he has since he destroyed Pete Sampras to capture the 2000 U.S. Open crown.

This was a match so tight, Agassi actually won one more point than Safin (171 to 170). Though Safin served an astounding 33 aces and no double faults to Agassi's 10 aces and two double faults, the defending champion actually served more effectively for much of the match. Agassi saved five of the seven break points he faced, while breaking Safin's serve four times in eight opportunities.

This match really told the story of tennis transformation featuring two players labeled as underachievers in their youth. Though Safin never slumped to the depths Agassi did — the Las Vegas native was nearly ready to cash in his career chips after plummeting to No. 141 seven years ago — injury-induced inactivity saw Safin enter this even ranked No. 86. Both men suffered career-threatening wrist injuries that sidelined them for months at different times in their careers and both men have bounced back on a Rebound Ace court well-suited to their styles.

While Agassi bounced back from a mid-career slide to produce a career Renaissance as he approaches the middle ages, Safin is showing signs he is finally maturing and accepting responsibility for his tremendous talent.

Two years ago, Safin showed up for the Australian Open final as the overwhelming favorite against unheralded Swede Thomas Johansson. The final fell on Safin's 22nd birthday and he seemed to treat the occasion as more a prelude to the party than a major match. His friends box was filled with a collection of beauties who looked like extras from the cast of "Baywatch" while Safin played like a man whose competitive spirit could use some CPR.

Safin is so gifted the scary thing is he may only be scratching the surface of the player he can become. As good as he's playing right now, as Safin gains more match experience playing against the game's best players it seems inevitable he will only get better.

The man who once led the ATP Tour in smashed racquets is now spending his time engrossed in an even deeper destruction: smashing the stereotype that he is a titanic talent who too often performed like a head case suffering from a case of brain cramps. There was a time when Safin's senseless shot selection, tempestuous temper tantrums made him appear to be a lit fuse of fury simply waiting to implode. In those instances, he needed an anger management counselor more than a coach. Now, his explosions are confined to the searing shots he strikes.

Safin's physical power was never an issue, but now he's playing with the mental strength to match his physical gifts and with the power of positivism, Safin may finally find the staying power he's lacked in the past. Regardless of what happens in his future it will be fun to watch Safin strive to play up to his potential.