Andre Agassi, the No. 1 seed, defeated seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Saturday.
He will face Juan Balcells, who routed Rainer Schuetter 6-3, 6-1 in a match that took just 52 minutes.
If he wins Sunday, the 31-year-old Agassi will become the eighth player to have 50 tournament championships in the open era, which began in 1968.
– Second-seeded Martina Hingis, showing no signs of a wrist injury, beat Croatia’s Silvija Talaja 6-0, 6-1 in the third round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Fourth-seeded Monica Seles also advanced, beating Martina Sucha of Slovakia 6-0, 6-3. Fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia edged Elena Bovina of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and sixth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy defeated Nicole Pratt of Australia 6-4, 6-1.
Hingis was unsure if she would play after experiencing pain in her right wrist during a tournament last week in Scottsdale, Ariz. But an acupuncture treatment left her without pain.
