At this particular point in time, with the memory of the match still so vivid, it seems impossible to believe that anything of this year's Australian Open will be remembered save for the extraordinary five-set semi-final between those American sparring partners, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.
Yet it will be the name of Agassi or Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov which will be written into the record books and inscribed on the roll of honour. The second semi-final, played almost 24 hours later, was a dull affair in comparison, with Sweden's Magnus Norman suffering such an attack of nerves that Kafelnikov needed barely 90 minutes to defeat him by 6-1 6-2 6-4.
"I tried to tell myself it was just another match, but it wasn't," said Norman of his first grand slam semi-final.
It is to be hoped it will not be the 23-year-old's last, otherwise he will forever torment himself with the sheer horror of it all. Until the third set, he simply could not keep the ball in play.
Kafelnikov, who had defeated Norman's fellow Swede Thomas Enqvist in last year's final, had prepared himself for a long, acerbic contest and could not quite believe his luck. "I could see from the start Magnus was really nervous," he said. "I can remember my first semi-final - at Roland Garros in 1995 against Thomas Muster - when I simply could not function." The Russian has a 100 per cent record in his two slam finals, having won the French Open in 1996 against Germany's Michael Stich. In comparison, Agassi has won five and lost five, and Kafelnikov, who watched the last two sets of the Sampras-Agassi semi on television, was relieved by the outcome. "Pete can totally dominate you, but the games between Andre and me match up. It's always a matter of a few points between us," he said.
The players have met nine times and Agassi holds a 5-4 lead, although the American has won their last three encounters, including the semi-final of last year's US Open. Then, Kafelnikov raced to a 6-1 first-set lead only to lose the match in four. "I thought I had total control but I was wrong," he confessed.
Time and again in matches Kafelnikov has been overwhelmed and demoralised by the Sampras serve, but he fancies his chances against Agassi. "I can play with him on the baseline all day long and I know how to exploit his weaknesses," he said. "The pressure on me after Andre and Pete's match was enormous and I didn't get to show my best against Magnus. But I know I'm going to show the fans something in the final."
Perhaps he will, but unless Agassi's victory over Sampras has drained him both physically and emotionally, which seems unlikely, it is not easy to make a case for the Russian.
Meanwhile, Sampras has confirmed that he will not be available to the US for their Davis Cup tie against Zimbabwe in Harare, after injuring his hip in the opening set against Agassi.
