What a match. Andre Agassi displayed his fighting skills and superior fitness in a thrilling 5-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4 6-4 3-6 5-7 7-5. The 21 year old Baghdatis succumbed to cramps late in the fifth, while Agassi, 36, seemed to be moving fine thanks to the cortisone shot he received following his first round victory. Agassi has made breaking down his opponents physically a trademark of his play - I’ll never forget the 2001 Australian Open semi-final when he was trailing one of my idols, Patrick Rafter, two sets to one, when Rafter also succumbed to cramps and eventually lost the match.

Andre plays a forehand shot during his epic victory over Marcos Baghdatis

Thursday night’s match was one of the most exciting in recent memory, and the atmosphere at Arthur Ashe stadium must have been electric. At certain times throughout the match, you could see the emotion on Agassi’s face. In the 4th set, Agassi blew a 4-0 lead to lose the set 5-7, and he admitted in the post-match interview with John McEnroe that he choked.

In the next round, Agassi plays Benjamin Becker of Germany, who is playing in his first US Open. Supporters of Agassi will be hoping that he will have a relatively easy match against Becker, as Agassi’s first two matches have been very lengthy and challenging. If Agassi manages to win his next match and progress through to the 4th round, he would most likely face fellow American Andy Roddick. In what could be a very symbolic match between the old and new of American tennis, Roddick could find himself holding the short-end of the stick for the first time in New York when it comes to crowd support - it would be one heck of a match.

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