Agassi Ends 16-Month Title Drought for MS-Cincinnati Title

Posted on August 9, 2004

Andre Agassi ended a 16-month title drought in style Sunday at the Masters Series-Cincinnati, outworking in-form former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

The win came on the heels of another stunning display Saturday night, defeating defending champ Andy Roddick in three sets. In the quarterfinals Agassi beat Carlos Moya, totalling three wins over former No. 1s for the week.

"It's pretty amazing," Agassi said. "It's overwhelming. I have been having a bit of a struggle most of this year. There's no way to describe how it feels right now."

Hewitt felt pressured the whole match by the Agassi baseline assault, evident in a double fault on match point.

"I felt like I was playing catch-up the whole match," Hewitt said. "And you know how good Andre is when he's the frontrunner. He's built a career on doing that. It's disappointing straight after the match, but I was beaten by a class player. It's no disgrace losing to Andre Agassi."

Agassi's title drought extended over 17 tournaments, and he is the oldest player to win a title since a 37-years-old Jimmy Connors in 1989.

"I've really been doing a good job this week of any time I get a chance to take the offence, I've really been executing well," Agassi said. "And that makes a big difference against the top guys. Because if you're not taking it to them, they're taking it to you."

Agassi is the 11th player in the 106-year history of the tournament to win the Cincinnati title at least three times, also winning in 1995 and 1996. Mats Wilander won the title four times (1983-84, '86, '88) and Pete
Sampras three times (1992, '97, '99) in the Open Era.

In the doubles final, (3)Knowles/Nestor upset (1)Bjorkman/Woodbridge 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 for their third title of the year.

"I think if you look at our record this year we've gotten to the semifinals of almost every Masters Series and we've lost tough matches and also been pretty close in the Slams as well, but just haven't really won the big points and haven't gotten over the hump," Knowles said.