Svensson Ready for Tennis Match or Trip to Agassi’s Circus

PARIS —  Who’s the real bozo?

Could it be Andre Agassi, who called Philippe Chatrier and the French Tennis Federation “a bunch of bozos” for criticizing his attire?

Maybe. Agassi’s French Open semifinal opponent today, Sweden’s Jonas Svensson, sort of put Agassi in such a category.

“I will play two people,” Svensson said. “Agassi the player and Agassi the clown. He clowns around like Noah or McEnroe. If he acts that way in the match, I’ll have to be cool.”

Svensson complained to Swedish writers that Agassi often hits the ball back hard during warmups, something that others do not do.

Neither Svensson nor Agassi has ever reached a Grand Slam final. In the other semifinal, Thomas Muster of Austria plays 30-year-old Andres Gomez of Ecuador.

The lingering controversy over Agassi’s attire has not managed to overshadow the effectiveness of his tennis. His pink tights have been much tighter than his matches. Agassi swamped Jim Courier in the fourth round, Michael Chang in the quarterfinals and is looking forward to playing Svensson.

“I’ve played him twice and beaten him twice, so I’ll be confident going in,” Agassi said.

Gomez is adopting much the same attitude toward his showdown with Muster.

A 10-year veteran playing in his 25th Grand Slam tournament, Gomez is beyond the quarterfinals for the first time. He has won two tournaments this year, but lost to Muster in the semifinals of the Italian Open two weeks ago, their only meeting on clay. Gomez beat Muster in their other match at the 1987 U.S. Open.

“I didn’t come here to get to the quarters or the semis, I came here to win,” Gomez said. “With all the talk about Chesnokov and Muster and Leconte, I have been pushed aside. Now I’m here and most of the others are gone.”