Norman hasn't lost a set at Italian Open
ROME -- Magnus Norman rolled over Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday to advance to the Italian Open final and move ahead of Andre Agassi to the top of the ATP Tour point standings.
Norman, who hasn't lost a set all week on Rome's red clay, beat Hewitt 6-3, 6-0 in a little more than an hour, combining steady groundstrokes and an occasional hard, flat serve.
"Everything is clicking for the moment," Norman, 23, said. "Hopefully I can go out (Sunday) and play like I've been playing all week."
In Sunday's title match, Norman will face defending champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, who beat Spain's Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
In the early match, Australia's Hewitt played error-ridden tennis, holding his serve just twice and drawing whistles of disapproval from the Foro Italico crowd. Norman had also beaten Hewitt on his home turf in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open.
"Magnus is seeing the ball really well now. I would have needed to be at my best to beat him, and I was definitely not at 100 percent today," said Hewitt, 19. "(But) this week was a big learning experience for me, and hopefully it will help my preparation for the French Open."
Seeded No. 3 in the Rome tournament, Norman moves to the top of the ATP Champions Race, surpassing Agassi, who lost in the third round of the Italian Open and made a late withdrawal from next week's Master Series tournament in Hamburg, Germany.
"I don't want to say I'm No. 1 in the world -- I'm No. 1 in the race," Norman said. "I don't want to compare myself to Agassi and Sampras. They're way ahead of me."
Agassi, winner of the French, U.S. and Australian grand slam events, is widely considered the No. 1 tennis player in the world, having finished 1999 at the top of the rankings.
Beginning this year, the ATP Tour dropped its rankings system and went to a points race where every player begins the year with no points. While the system is designed to show who is playing the best tennis during the year, it is not used by tournaments to determine the entry list or the seedings at events.
Agassi didn't give a reason for pulling out of the German event shortly before Friday's draw. The Italian Open was his first tournament since pulling a hamstring at Atlanta last month.
The second semifinal Saturday was also a rematch as Corretja, the 1997 Italian Open champion, lost to Kuerten in the semifinals for the second straight year.
The fourth-seeded Brazilian broke serve in the ninth game to go up 5-4 when Corretja hit two straight double-faults.
Corretja, seeded 10th, could not find his rhythm, losing serve in the first game of the second set.
Nicknamed "Guga" and a crowd favorite in Rome, Kuerten expects a tough final against Norman.
"He deserves" the No. 1 spot, said Kuerten. "He's the best player this year, and he's playing very well right now. (Sunday) I just hope to continue with the force of the fans out there."
The doubles final will feature Martin Damm of the Czech Republic and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia vs. South African Wayne Ferreira and Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
