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Return Winners: the 2002 ATP Miami Open final

The veteran Andre Agassi met rising star Roger Federer in the championship round.

ByVan Sias

Published Mar 31, 2019

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Andre Agassi met the rising Swiss Roger Federer in the 2002 Miami Masters final.

As the two-time defending champion at the Australian Open, Andre Agassi was forced to miss the 2002 edition due to injury. He made his season debut in San Jose, Calif., and reached the final, then followed that up with the title in Scottsdale, Ariz.

His comeback hit a snag in Indian Wells, but at the next Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he was the defending champion, the American advanced to the final. Along the way, he defeated his successor in Melbourne, Thomas Johansson, in straight sets.

In the championship match, he’d face the 12th seed, Roger Federer. The up-and-coming Swiss didn’t drop a set on his way to his first Masters final, which included a win over world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the semis.

Having faced his younger opponent twice in the past, Agassi had yet to drop a set in their matches and the pattern continued here as the seven-time major winner took the opener 6-3. The second set was nearly identical to the first, with Agassi taking it by a 6-3 scoreline.

However, Federer wasn’t done yet.

The world No. 14 broke Agassi early to go up 3-1, then maintained that advantage to eventually take a 6-3 set of his own. With the momentum on his side, Federer went up 4-2 in the fourth as he looked to push the match into a decider. Agassi then turned up the intensity on his groundstrokes to take four games on the trot, clinching the title: his second of the year and the 51st of his career.

Federer reached his first final on U.S. soil. His record fell to 2-6 in championship matches.

The set Agassi lost to Federer was only the third the American dropped in two years at the tournament en route to consecutive titles.

This was Agassi’s fifth title at the tournament, extending his own record for the most among the men and tying his wife Steffi Graf, the women’s leader.

700

Agassi won the 700th match of his career with his final-round victory.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

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