Federer beats Agassi at Nasdaq-100
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – The setting, the weather and the crowd favored Andre Agassi. Against Roger Federer, that wasn’t enough.
As usual, the top-ranked Federer rose to the occasion and beat Agassi 6-4, 6-3 Friday night in the semifinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.
Federer hit 30 winners and escaped his biggest jam of the night with three aces in one game to reach the final.
He’ll bid for his first Key Biscayne title Sunday against 18-year-old Rafael Nadal, who advanced by beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3.
“I had to come up with the right shots at the right time,” he said. “I felt the heat out here with the fans behind him. It was extremely tough.”
Federer extended his winning streak to 21 matches and improved to 31-1 this year, the best start on the men’s tour since John McEnroe was 39-0 in 1984. He has won 17 consecutive finals going into Sunday.
Unseeded Kim Clijsters will try for her second title in two weeks when she plays No. 2-seeded Maria Sharapova in the women’s final today.
Nadal became the youngest man to reach a final at Key Biscayne, and now he’ll try to become the first Spaniard to win the men’s title.