Agassi at Home in Rome

T-mobile frontman and US tennis player Andre Agassi breezed into the semi-finals of the Rome Masters Series event with a 6-2 6-2 drubbing of Spain's Albert Costa this afternoon.

Agassi, who reached the final in Rome 13 years ago but has never won the $2.3m event, will face the Czech Jiri Novak in the semi-finals.

Agassi raced to a 5-1 lead over Costa in the first set with a mixture of aggression and guile before an early break at the start of the second set put the American firmly in control.

"It's always tough but today I was just hitting the ball really well," said Agassi. "It's been a great week for me.

"Novak is a very talented player and he plays the game really easily. It's going to be difficult. I hope I play this well tomorrow."

Novak had to save three match points and break points as he served for the match in his marathon 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 win over hotshot 22-year-old American James Blake.

"I'd like to congratulate James because he was playing great," said 14th seed Novak.

"It was only luck that I won this match because he was playing so well.

"He was definitely the better player for the first two sets but I just fought."

Blake's match points came and went in a second set tiebreaker with two on his own serve, but he lacked the big-match experience to convert them.

The 27-year-old Novak, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, will play only his second Masters Series semi-final - and his first in Rome - and said he was looking forward to playing Agassi.

"I think I have nothing to lose so I will play without pressure and try to do my best."