Agassi, Hewitt ready to rumble at Open

NEW YORK - Andre Agassi laughed the first time he saw Lleyton Hewitt, a scrawny, 16-year-old high school junior with straggly hair, backward cap and safety pins holding up his baggy shorts. <br> <br> Hewitt was a runt, maybe 5-foot-9 in his sneakers and three pairs of socks. Ballboys were bigger and stronger. So were the ballgirls. He looked as if he had been picked out of the crowd in a cute public relations stunt: local kid meets his idol. If Hewitt had pulled out a pen and pad and asked for his autograph, Agassi wouldn&#39;t have been surprised. <br> <br> They were in Adelaide, Australia, Hewitt&#39;s hometown, and the tournament was a tuneup for the 1998 Australian Open. Hewitt was crawling up the rankings between classes and had reached No. 550. Agassi had been No. 1 and would be again, but at the moment he was on a pit stop at No. 122, working his way back from injuries and a journey to the nether world of the Challenger tour. <br> <br> ``I didn&#39;t believe it, that that was my opponent,&#39;&#39; Agassi says now, smiling at the memory. ``He just seemed like he had a couple of strings hanging in his shoes.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Two hours later, Agassi wasn&#39;t laughing anymore. He was ticked off. The kid was a cocky baseliner with fiery eyes who ran wind sprints all over the court on a broiling day, making Agassi dizzy just watching him. Hewitt served soft but he chased everything down, and when it was over he had beaten Agassi, 7-6, 7-6, to reach the final. <br> <br> ``I was like 0-for-17 on breakpoints,&#39;&#39; Agassi says. ``We didn&#39;t break each other the whole match.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hewitt went on to win the tournament, becoming the youngest tour winner since Michael Chang in 1988 and the lowest-ranked winner in tour history. <br> <br> Now at No. 1, the defending U.S. Open champion and reigning Wimbledon champ, Hewitt is a tad taller, serves like the big boys and still chases down balls like a roadrunner, the way he did in that first match against Agassi. <br> <br> When they meet Friday in the Open semifinals, their first Grand Slam match, Hewitt will be coming in with three straight victories over Agassi and a 4-2 lead overall. <br> <br> The difference in their ages - Agassi, at 32, is 11 years older - means little. Agassi looked as if he could play all night when he won a four-setter against Max Mirnyi in Wednesday&#39;s quarterfinals. <br> <br> ``He&#39;s in great shape, I don&#39;t care what age he is,&#39;&#39; Hewitt says. ``He looks as fit as ever to me. He looks stronger than he&#39;s been probably in the past as well. I can&#39;t recall too many matches that Andre&#39;s lost because of his fitness. So I throw his age right out the window.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hewitt reckoned he also could throw out his last couple of victories over him - in San Jose in February and Cincinnati last month. This time, it&#39;s best-of-five in a U.S. Open with a crowd that&#39;s going to be 99 percent for Agassi. <br> <br> This is a match that has all the signs of a classic in the making. It&#39;s Hewitt coming on in his career and Agassi on his way out, yet both close to their peak. They&#39;re the dominant baseliners of their eras and, at this moment, their eras are colliding. <br> <br> Hewitt has the edge in speed and range. He doesn&#39;t create points so much as he whacks winners every chance he gets. Agassi is stronger, a master tactician who tries to control points from midcourt and wear down opponents. Trouble is, Hewitt can run all day. <br> <br> They both can crank up serves in the 125 mph range, though Hewitt may have a slight advantage with his accuracy as he peppers the corners. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s a fine line you walk against somebody like Lleyton,&#39;&#39; Agassi says. ``You want to certainly take some chances, but you can&#39;t afford to take unnecessary risks. I think that&#39;s the balance that you always try to walk. ... You want to control points, but you don&#39;t want to press. It&#39;s about playing the right shot at the right time.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hewitt sizes up the challenge this way: <br> <br> ``He obviously hits the ball extremely clean and extremely well from the back of the court. It&#39;s tough to get too many cheap points. His serve is very underrated. ... He hits it in a position where he&#39;s going to get that next short ball and pound his groundies, which he does so well.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The best matches are usually the ones between players of contrasting styles - puncher vs. counterpuncher, baseliner vs. serve-and-volleyer. <br> <br> This time, as similar as Agassi and Hewitt are, the sizzle will come from their long, brutal rallies and a history that began four years ago when Hewitt was still wearing safety pins.