MATCH POINT; AGASSI REACHES CUP TITLE MATCH.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer

The matchup everyone obviously hoped for happens today.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi and No. 2 Pete Sampras took care of their unseeded Australian opponents in the Mercedes-Benz Cup semifinals at UCLA to set up the Hollywood dream-match final today.

Agassi, the defending champion, dispatched Andrew Ilie 6-4, 6-2. Sampras, who won this event in 1991, regained the world's No. 1 ranking with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over qualifier James Sekulov.

Even the competitors got their wishes. As Sampras received a trophy for breaking Ivan Lendl's record of 270 weeks at No. 1, he told the crowd he wanted Agassi.

``It'll be great for tennis if I can play Andre in the final,'' he said. ``He's the best player I've played in my career. I'm certainly hoping Andre wins. No disrespect to Andrew Ilie, but it will be good for tennis.''

Agassi returned the favor later in the evening, saying, ``Playing Pete in any situation requires you to be the best. He's been good for my career in many ways and a pain in the (rear) in many ways. . . . You talk about a heavyweight bout, you'll see that (today).''

To make it happen, Agassi had to overcome Ilie, a go-for-broke player who entertained the crowd with his hard cross-court forehand shots to the corner and his loud grunting.

He also surprised Agassi when he ran down a drop volley, jumped up and hit the winner through his legs.

``Andrew's an unusual player and can hit some of the most creative shots,'' Agassi said. ``You're never convinced if you've won the point.''

But Agassi wore him down with his serve and ability to hit cross-court shots of his own. He broke Ilie to go up 3-2 in the first set, then closed the match in four straight games.

Ilie didn't help himself by double-faulting three times in one game.

``He cut down my reaction time. I got rushed a little,'' Ilie said. ``I haven't faced anyone of his caliber in the tournament this week. I was taken aback by the timing. Part of it was concentration, part of it was not being used to the pace.''

Sampras played at an almost relaxed pace against Sekulov, a qualifier who had never won an ATP event until this week. Sampras got off to a quick start, sweeping the first set and giving him time to play to the crowd. Sampras grew up in Palos Verdes, often practices at UCLA and owns a house in the area. His sister Stella coaches at UCLA.

On the stadium court, Sampras said all the right things about how great it was to be No. 1 and to do it here. In the press conference, he joked that he wanted a standing ovation and expressed pride in the way he played.

``Playing well against Wayne (Ferreira on Friday), I carried that confidence over,'' he said. ``I got my game going, got off to a great start. I think I might've overwhelmed him a bit.

``Today, I felt like I could do no wrong.''

Sampras didn't do much wrong despite never having seen Sekulov play. In a match lasting just 54 minutes (the same as his first-round victory over 17-year-old Phillip King), Sampras successfully stayed on the baseline, hit winners to the corners and charged the net.

``He volleyed unbelievable today,'' Sekulov, 22, said. ``If he does that again, no one will beat him. He doesn't really have a weakness. . . . If you don't hit a good shot back, then the point is gone. You've got to hit it deep to his backhand, but he doesn't let you do that too often.''

Agassi and Sampras have played each other very often, 24 times to be exact, with Sampras holding a 14-10 lead.

Agassi said he knows what it takes to win. ``Not playing him on grass, for one thing,'' he said. ``It's the only time knowing when you come to the park, you could play your best tennis and lose.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) Pete Sampras won his semifinal match against James Sekulov and faces Andre Agassi in the final of the Mercedes-Benz Cup today.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(2--Color) Andre Agassi beat Andrew Ilie to reach the finals.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box: TODAY'S FINAL