Marat Safin advances to Madrid Masters final
Last Updated: Saturday, October 23, 2004 | 6:19 PM ET
CBC Sports
The third-seeded Safin eliminated the second-seeded Agassi, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), on the indoor hardcourt at Rockodromo Arena and will meet Argentine David Nalbandian in the championship match on Sunday.
Safin also defeated Agassi in the semifinals at the Australian Open back in January, before losing to world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final. Agassi, seeing his first action since the U.S. Open, captured the Madrid Masters in 2002.
The fourth-seeded Nalbandian moved on with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over unseeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the other semifinal. Nalbandian improved to 30-12 this year.
Safin will be looking for his second ATP singles title of 2004 and the 13th of his career, while Nalbandian is in search of his first championship of the year and the third of his career.
Safin has taken four of the five all-time encounters between the two players.
This marks the eighth of nine Masters Series events this year and the winner will collect $557,000 US.
