With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York.
Watch on YouTube: Andre Agassi vs. Lleyton Hewitt, 2002 US Open men's singles semifinals
It was defending US Open champion vs. two-time US Open champion in this 2002 semifinal, with world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt seeking back-to-back titles in New York. Unfortunately for the Aussie, he was fighting against not only Andre Agassi, but also an American crowd firmly behind the Las Vegas native they'd watched lift the trophy in 1994 and 1999.
The No. 6-seeded Agassi had dropped just one set on his way to the semis, while Hewitt previously survived an epic five-setter against another American, No. 25 seed James Blake, in Round 3. Hewitt never trailed the set score in that third-round contest, but he never led against Agassi in the semis; the American jumped out to a two-set lead by winning a second-set tiebreak, before Hewitt answered by winning a breaker of his own in set three.
A four-set victory set up an all-American US Open final for the ages, with Agassi taking on Pete Sampras in what would be the latter's last professional match. Sampras won the final, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, to finish his career by winning his then-record 14th major.
Hewitt's semifinal run was part of a seven-year stretch, from 2000-06, in which he reached the quarterfinals or better each year in New York. Agassi, who went on to win the next major in the calendar, the 2003 Australian Open, reached his sixth (and final) US Open final in 2005, when he fell to Roger Federer.
The complete Agassi-Hewitt match is now available to watch on the US Open YouTube channel. For a coming attraction, view the match highlights below.
