Agassi overcomes Balcells to win 50th title

Top-seed Agassi banged out a 6-2 7-6 victory over hard-serving Spaniard Juan Balcells to win the $400,000 Scottsdale Classic for the fourth time and join an elite band of players who have won 50 titles.

Agassi joined Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Guillermo Vilas, Ilie Nastase and Boris Becker as just the ninth player in the Open Era (since 1968) to capture half a century of ATP career titles.

"It means a lot now," said Agassi, who was presented with a chocolate cake at the courtside trophy presentation following the one-hour 15-minute milestone victory.

Relying on his signature punishing ground game, Agassi tempered the Spaniard's hard-serve with breaks in the sixth and eighth games to grab the opener.

In the second set, Agassi led 5-4 and held two match points, but Balcells erased both, eventually forcing the tiebreaker.

After Agassi took a 4-2 lead, Balcells asked for an injury timeout on the changeover to have the Tour trainer wrap his left quad.

When play resumed, Agassi wasted little time. He nailed a backhand service return pass for 5-2, boomed a 109 MPH ace to set up match point, and drilled another backhand crosscourt pass to closed out the victory.

DEEP IN THOUGHT
"Before the match you're really thinking about your opponent and what you need to do.

"When you get done with it, it kind of hits you, how long you've been out here, how many times you've had the privilege of standing out there and holding the trophy," Agassi said.

In a gesture of appreciation, Agassi presented the trophy to his father, Mike, who came to see his son and new daughter-in-law Steffi Graf, along with 4 1/2 month old grandson, Jaden Gill.

"He helped develop me at an age that was very crucial," Agassi said. "And he loves the game of tennis more than anybody I know."

Though Agassi knew little of Balcells, the seven-time Grand Slam winner gave him high marks in their first encounter.

"He's a good player, he's a tough player," said Agassi, who outslugged Balcells 36-24 in winners and his 18 unforced errors were four fewer than the Spaniard.

"His serve is as big of a kick as you'll ever face out there and with the altitude, it was really taking off.

"He's not necessarily an offensive player from the baseline, but he makes you hit a number of balls to win the point.

"I had to take my serve today, and step in on my return. He was starting to find his range with his serve. I felt like he was tougher to break as the match wore on."

INJURY RETURN
Agassi has had an impressive return since being sidelined with a right wrist injury from November to just last week.

In his first tournament of the year, Agassi fell to Australian Lleyton Hewitt in a nail-biting final at San Jose, California.

This week he dropped just one set before bouncing the hard-serving Spaniard for his first title of 2002, and the $51,500 winner's cheque.

"It feels real good," said Agassi, who improved to 9-1 this year.

"My game is coming around, and I know where I want to be when I'm out there. I want to be out there working. I'm quite pleased where everything is finding a place right now."

Agassi will have little time to enjoy the victory, heading to Tennis Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami in the next two weeks.

"I did everything I needed to do this week but I still feel there is another gear I could hit," added Agassi, who is now 50-25 in title matches.

"These next two tournaments are going to be very crucial for me.

I'd like to be able to continue the way I've been playing and go a little bit further. If I can do that, I can put myself in great position for a great year," Agassi added.