Defending champion Andre Agassi outduelled Switzerland's Roger Federer 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-4 today to win a record fifth Nasdaq-100 Open Masters title and reach another milestone in his remarkable career.
Defending champion Andre Agassi outduelled Switzerland's Roger Federer 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-4 today to win a record fifth Nasdaq-100 Open Masters title and reach another milestone in his remarkable career.
With Steffi Graf looking on from the stands Agassi needed two hours and 20 minutes under a sweltering south Florida sun to equal his wife's mark of five Miami Masters titles and collect his 700th career singles win.
The 31-year-old American, who will turn 32 next month, becomes just the ninth player to reach the plateau joining some of the game's greats including Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker and Jimmy Connors, who tops the rankings with 1,155.
The win was worth $456,000 to Agassi but equally important it allowed him to cling to a top 10 spot in the world rankings.
After losing his opening match at Indian Wells two weeks ago, where he was also defending champion, Agassi had to retain his Miami crown to avoid being replaced at number 10 by Federer, whose path to his first career Masters final included a semifinal win over world number one Lleyton Hewitt.