Rafter triumphs in five-set thriller

13 April 2012

Pat Rafter blasted his way to a second consecutive Wimbledon final after clawing back from the brink of defeat and beating Andre Agassi in yet another of their incredible five-set classics on Centre Court.

The pair became locked in a remarkable roller-coaster reprise of their five-set marathon at the same stage last year, a game then won by Rafter and described by John McEnroe as the greatest he'd ever seen at Wimbledon. Yet this may have been even better and, if possible, more enthralling as the game took twists and turns before Rafter won 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 8-6.

Agassi who, after uncharacteristically losing the plot and getting shirty about a line call as he gave away the fourth set, looked certain to prevail this time in their duel under the SW19 sun as he served for the match, but the never-say-die Aussie just refused to be beaten and will now fancy his chances of going one better than his defeat to Pete Sampras in last year's final.

After the match, he said: "Agassi was definitely the better player in the fifth set - I was lucky and very fortunate to get through."

Agassi began with the most glorious flourish, breaking Rafter to love on the Aussie's second service game, albeit with the help of a couple of net cords. The former champ immediately found his range with his searing returns and was serving with such efficiency that he only lost two points on his delivery during the first set.

Rafter found his serve being so pressurised that he began to be panicked into errors, netting a straight-forward forehand to hand Agassi has second break. The American was in such inspired mood that every unlikely shot seemed to come off, including a couple of unfeasible lobs and even the odd unexpected serve and volley rush.

After wrapping up the set in just 24 minutes, Agassi must have been scenting a quick kill but games between these two are rarely straightforward.

The turning point came when Rafter actually outlasted and out-thought the master baseliner in a marathon rally and then forced Agassi to mishit a forehand under pressure. It gave him a 2-0 lead and he consolidated it by courageously overcoming a couple of break points in the next game.

Rafter only conceded four more points on his serve in that set to level matters after 55 minutes, but the pendulum swung again when Agassi once again discovered such quality with his returns that Rafter was pressured into delivering a sixth double fault which helped earn Agassi the crucial break in the sixth game.

Two sets to one down, serving at 30-30 in the sixth game, Agassi was left distraught when Rafter earned a break thanks to two very dubious decisions by the same line judge, who had failed to call two wide Rafter groundstrokes.

Indeed, the American seemed so distracted by the whole business that he played an another awful service game to allow Rafter to level at two sets all.

Inevitably, though, there was to be another twist. Agassi bounced back for an immediate break thanks to Rafter cushioning a drop volley into the net. Rafter rallied when Agassi had three break points for a match-winning 3-0 lead and also saved a further break point on his next service game.

Then, incredibly with Agassi serving for the match, Rafter gambled everything with a chip and charge approach and broke back for 5-5. With Agassi serving at 6-7, he tried the same approach and forced the American into errors before he delivered the backhand winner.

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Rafter triumphs in five-set thriller

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