Andre Agassi swept through to the third round of the US Open last night with another display of magical tennis.
The flamboyant American brushed aside Germany's Axel Pretzsch 6-3 6-2 6-1 in just one hour and 34 minutes in a match peppered with McEnroe-style altercations with the umpire.
But while Agassi was angered by a series of dubious line calls, he kept his composure, concentration and sense of humour - qualities which have made him the overwhelming favourite to lift his second US Open title.
Rather than letting the clear mistakes unsettle him he used them to milk the crowd's support, letting out huge roars of exasperation which delighted the Arthur Ashe stadium fans.
With Pete Sampras having withdrawn, this tournament is desperate to retain the explosive skills and vibrant personality of Agassi.
And in this form he should encounter few problems progressing to the final stages - a feat which would give him the added bonus of reaching world number one.
That would complete an amazing renaissance for the 29-year-old Las Vegan, who plummeted down the tennis rankings amid the emotional pain of his marriage breakup with actress Brooke Shields.
Only months ago his career looked in terminal decline as he crashed to world number 141. But since he decided to throw his energies exclusively back into tennis the results have been devastating.
He followed up a stirring triumph at the French Open, coming back from two sets down in the final against Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev, to reach the Wimbledon final which he lost to Sampras.
He has won 30 of his last 34 matches and three of those losses have been at the hands of Sampras.
The only other person to beat him in that glory streak is Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the number three seed here and the only man likely to stop him from succeeding Sampras as world number one at the end of this fortnight.
On last night's evidence, however, the US Open has Agassi's name written all over it.
Agassi admitted he was delighted with his form at Flushing Meadows, which has seen him lose just nine games in his first two matches.
And the man who has won all four grand slam events is desperate to add another US Open title to the one he won in 1994.
"I'll be disappointed if I don't win here because I want it so bad," said Agassi.
"I'm very happy with my game, I'm playing the big points well. It's a result of confidence and playing lots of matches and overall my game is just where I'd like it to be. Somebody's going to have to play a good match to beat me.
"It's hard to play seven great matches and I know a difficult match is bound to come up. All it takes is one bad match for your US Open dream to be squashed. But I'm mentally focused to cope with whoever I'm playing."
In a successful day for the seeds Dutchman Richard Krajicek cruised past Switzerland's Lorenzo Manta 6-2 6-4 6-1 and number 10 seed Marcelo Rios defeated another Swiss player, George Bastl, 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3.
In the women's event Serena Williams kept her father's prediction alive that she will meet big sister Venus in the final with a 6-4 6-2 triumph over Jelena Kostanic of Croatia.
Venus, meanwhile, progressed to the fourth round without hitting a ball when her opponent Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia withdrew with an injured wrist.
