Andre Agassi vs James Blake in a five-set late-night classic! | US Open 2005 Quarterfinal

When you talk about US Open night matches, it would be hard to top the masterpiece composed by Andre Agassi and James Blake in the 2005 US Open quarterfinals. For Agassi, this was familiar territory. For Blake, it was a brave new world, his first trip to the final eight of a major – and also part of an amazing comeback that in the last year had seen Blake recover from major health problems and the loss of his father.

Having grown up in nearby Yonkers, Blake was arguably the only player who could match Agassi as a fan favorite at the US Open. Blake produced lights-out tennis for the first two sets of their match under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

But Agassi countered to take the next two by the same score. The fifth was magnificent, the level rising as the clock passed midnight. In the end, though, Agassi squeaked it out, 8-6 in the fifth-set tiebreak. Well aware of what he and Blake had created, Agassi said immediately afterward, “One-fifteen in the morning … 20,000 people watching. I wasn’t the winner here, tennis was.”

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