Agassi to face Novak in Madrid final

American second seed Andre Agassi will step up his bid for the world number one spot with a Madrid Masters final against Jiri Novak after the two players scored contrasting semi-final victories on Saturday.

Agassi, who is closing fast on Lleyton Hewitt at the top of the world rankings, clinched his place in the Madrid final by getting the better of Sebastien Grosjean 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a battle of wits with the French seventh seed.

Novak, the 11th seed, also saw off French opposition but his 6-2 6-4 demolition of the qualifier Fabrice Santoro was a very different sort of encounter, as the Czech's power and precision took him to victory in a sprightly 68 minutes.

Santoro had upset 12th seed Roger Federer in his quarter-final with a mixture of artful slices, chips and charges but his game was lacking a vital spark on Saturday and Novak took full advantage.

He struck 13 huge winners on his way to taking the first set in just 28 minutes and added a further two breaks to move into a 5-2 lead in the second.

Santoro hinted at a comeback by taking one of those breaks back but Novak served out at the second attempt, finishing off with an ace.

The two finalists have met on four previous occasions, with Agassi winning them all, which will make the American a strong favourite to land the 15th Tennis Masters Series title of his career on Sunday.

NOTHING TO LOSE

"I don't know what I'll have to do to beat him," Novak said. "I'll just fight for every ball. I won't have anything to lose because I've never managed to take a set off him before."

Agassi has shown enough in his last two games to make him favourite against anyone.

After outgunning Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals, Saturday's win over Grosjean was more about speed of thought and impeccable shot selection as he overcame the lively Frenchman.

"Grosjean is so quick about court I had to make sure I was going for the right shot every time," Agassi said. "I had to find a way to beat him and the serve was absolutely crucial."

For the early part of the match Agassi was content to keep his own service game in order, while waiting for Grosjean to offer him an opportunity.

After eight games dominated by serve the chance finally presented itself as Grosjean netted two simple forehands after running round to give himself space.

Agassi then forced the error on break point, smacking a forehand to the corner with such venom that Grosjean was unable to keep his reply in court.

DROP SHOT

Grosjean tried everything in the next as Agassi served for the set, sending in a drop shot, a lob and an attempted service winner in an attempt to unsettle the American.

There was no joy for the Frenchman, though, Agassi double-faulting on the first of three set-points but then forcing the mistake from Grosjean with his craft from the back of the court.

Grosjean set up a decider as he got the better of a run of three games against serve to move 5-3 up. He then served out confidently, with two aces taking him to the set in 35 minutes.

Agassi did not look entirely comfortable in the third set, with Grosjean getting the measure of him with a series of passes.

The American stayed with his opponent until game 10, though, when a piece of good fortune sent the match his way.

As Grosjean served at 4-5 to stay in the match, an Agassi forehand struck the top of the net and crept over to put the American within two points of victory.

Agassi then latched on to a floating Grosjean second serve to snap up his first match point and claim victory.