US fans torn between Agassi and Blake in quarters
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-07 09:54

NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - New York sports fans are a vociferous, highly opinionated breed, yet this year's crowd at the U.S. Open cannot decide who to root for when beloved Andre Agassi plays inspirational local James Blake in Wednesday's All-American quarter-final.

"I'm torn," said Debra Martin. "I'm looking forward to a really good match.

"Go USA, basically," she added.

"I want whoever plays better to win. They're both such good stories. I'd love it to come down to a fifth set, a fifth-set tiebreaker," said Daniel Ou.

"I'll be happy as long as someone wins," said Umar Rashid. "I'm just going to be excited the whole match."

Both the 35-year-old Agassi, playing in his 20th U.S. Open and aiming for his ninth grand slam title, and 25-year-old Blake, invited as a wildcard after falling from the top 200 when forced to deal with injury, a rare ailment and the death of his father, have enjoyed thunderous support at the tournament.

"J-BLOCK"

Leading the cheers for Blake, who grew up in nearby Connecticut, has been his own section of friends and family who wear matching T-shirts and call themselves the "J-Block."

"I think my friends are definitely going to be here. But I know he's got fans all over the world, especially here. He's won here. I mean, he's such a legend," Blake said, referring to his twice-champion opponent.

"He's got so many fans that I think they're also going to be cheering very vocally for him."

Though many fans were openly torn over the question of who they would support, others had made up their minds.

"I'm for Agassi because he's a veteran and I want to see him go out on top," said Melissa Kirksinger. "I'm sympathetic to Blake's story, but I would love to see Agassi go out on top."

"Agassi, because he's 35 and I'm in the same genre," said Charlotte Clarke.

Santhosh Nedum Parambil said he was for Blake. "He's a newcomer. I want him to do well. There were so many catastrophes for him last year, so it would be nice for him to win."

Julissa Marrero said she would be pulling for Agassi out of nostalgia. "I remember Agassi when he had hair."

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