Tennis: Agassi one match away from making history: Las Vegas showman has the public's backing but Martin's power game is prepared for role of party-pooper in US Open semi-finals

AFTER defeating Andre Agassi at Wimbledon, Todd Martin was asked if he felt like the man who shot Bambi. Heaven help the Michigan giant if he mugs the Las Vegas showman in the semi-finals of the United States Open tomorrow.

America may be guaranteed a finalist, but nobody doubts which player the public favour. As Martin said wryly: 'For most of the match, I figure they will be for Andre. And for the change-overs, where he changes his shirt, they will definitely be for Andre. And I hope, for just a little while - if it's only when I walk off the court - that they're for me.'

Agassi considers that Martin will draw some partisan support and can rely on the conservative vote. 'Todd being an American, there are going to be guys pulling for Todd. The reality of it is, he wears white clothes. I'm just saying some people like white clothes. It's quite simple. It's always been simple from my perspective.'

A wearer of white strictly on formal occasions (Wimbledon), Agassi, with his brisk, bouncy, crowd-pleasing style and Brooke Shields in tow, was perceived as the saviour of the championships long before anyone suspected that a weary Pete Sampras would be eased off the court by a Peruvian opportunist, Jaime Yzaga.

Martin, 6ft 6in, is a clean-cut, regular guy, a Stan Smith for the Nineties, with the point-shortening big serve and compact volley synonymous with the power game, an ideal foil for the 5ft 11in Agassi's searing returns, punishing groundstrokes and perky personality; so long as he does not forget who is supposed to win the tournament.

Victory in the fourth round at Wimbledon, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 6-1, gave Martin a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head. Agassi has won two of their three matches on concrete, which is a relevant factor here.

Should Agassi win, he would become the first unseeded player in the history of the men's singles championship to eliminate four seeds. He is only the seventh to beat three seeds (Wayne Ferreira, 12; Michael Chang, 6; Thomas Muster, 13), the first, coincidentally being Frank Shields, who probably never displayed as much emotion during a match as his grand-daughter, Brooke.

'I've said it a lot, - probably too much - but I feel like I can win these matches,' Agassi said. 'I'm not seeded and I'm in the semis. And when I step on the court I feel like I want to win the match, and that's not going to change whatever number is next to my name.'

Agassi is now ranked No 20 in the world because of injury and under-achievement, Martin is the ninth seed as a consequence of impressive progress which enabled him to finish runner-up at the Australian Open, the winner at Queen's and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, with Sampras on the other side of the net on each occasion.

'It says a lot for his ability, a lot for what what I'm going to be facing on Saturday,' Agassi said. 'He's been playing some of the best tennis this year and he deserves the results he's had.' These include a first-round survival against Guillaume Raoux, of France, who forced the American to save three match points.

Agassi, the runner-up to Sampras here in 1990, will be competing in his first Grand Slam semi-final since winning Wimbledon two years ago. 'When you get to the semis of a Slam,' he reflected, 'who is in your way doesn't really matter, whether they beat you before or whether you have beaten them before, or whether you have never played before. Nothing matters except Saturday, and there's no feeling like being out there on Super Saturday, and I just can't wait.'

Super Saturday is what passes for showcasing at the US Open here: the two men's semi-finals with the women's final sandwiched in between, almost as an afterthought. Never mind, just as long as there is Agassi.

Yzaga departed yesterday, defeated 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 in three hours and 21 minutes by Karel Novacek, of the Czech Republic, a result which ensures a European presence in Sunday's final. Novacek will be appearing in his first Grand Slam semi-final and, in common with Martin, he had a fortunate escape en route. In the third round he recovered from two sets down and saved two match points against Australia's Todd Woodbridge.

(Photograph omitted)