AGASSI STORMS INTO SEMIS `GREAT CHALLENGE' AHEAD FOR KUERTEN.

Byline: Gerry Gittelson Staff Writer

Continuing his display of hard-court prowess, Andre Agassi knocked off Jan-Michael Gambill 6-2, 7-5 in the Mercedes-Benz Cup quarterfinals Friday at UCLA's L.A. Tennis Center.

The victory sets up today's 1 p.m. semifinal between Agassi and top- seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil.

Agassi is 35-7 on hard courts this year, and Kuerten is coming on strong after building most of his victories on clay.

``Gustavo's playing some great tennis,'' Agassi said, ``but I would rather play him here than on clay. He's got a real nice game, and a lot of people don't realize how big he is and how long his arms are, which gives him good trajectory (on his serves) to hit the corners well.''

Kuerten, who eliminated Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-3 Friday, hasn't had his service broken in the tournament.

Kuerten, who has 15 titles compared to Agassi's 48, has won 15 consecutive matches, including recent championships in Germany and France.

``Andre is one of the best players ever,'' Kuerten said. ``So if I lose it's just normal, especially in the United States where it's tougher to beat people like him and Pete Sampras. It should be a great challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.''

Against returning tournament finalist Gambill, Agassi coasted through the first set, breaking serve twice to pull ahead 4-1. The second set was tied at 5 when Agassi broke Gambill again, then won four of five points to avoid a tiebreaker and win 7-5.

``It was a pretty good day,'' Agassi said. ``I picked my shots well and converted my opportunities as soon as I got them, especially in the first set. In the second set, I structured the pace pretty well and stepped it up at the end and stayed positive.

``I have to say I feel pretty good right now about my game.''

Gambill was careless and didn't come through with enough big shots to make up for it.

He made things easy for Agassi by committing a series of unforced errors, especially in the first set, and he finished with five double faults, compared to none for Agassi.

Agassi won the Mercedes-Benz in 1998 and finished second in 1999. He pulled out of last year's event because of a back injury.

In other quarterfinal action, unseeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who has never won a title and entered the tournament ranked 39th in the ATP, beat Taylor Dent of Newport Beach 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

``He's a talented player,'' Dent said. ``He was laid back and that worked for him.''

Malisse will face Sampras, the No. 4 seed, in the other semifinal. Sampras defeated seventh-seeded Magnus Norman 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the late match Friday.

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Photo:

(color) Andre Agassi lunges for the ball Friday during his quarterfinal match against Jan-Michael Gambill at the Mercedes-Benz Cup at the UCLA tennis center.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer