Agassi faces Haas in final

Agassi is delighted with his clay-court form

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Andre Agassi powered into the final of the Rome Masters with a 7-5 6-4 win over battling Jiri Novak on Saturday.

Agassi will play Tommy Haas in the final after the German swept past young American Andy Roddick 6-1 7-5 in the other semi-final.

Agassi, seeded ninth, had to work hard against the Czech in the early stages of both sets, and it took him 42 minutes to break his opponent's serve in the opener.

Novak proved himself more than able to deal with Agassi's power.

To beat all the people I have this week feels really good

Andre Agassi

But a handful of errors under almost relentless pressure from the American made the difference.

It will be Agassi's second appearance in the Rome final.

In his first, in 1989, he missed a championship point against Alberto Mancini before losing in five sets.

"That was 13 years ago but until now I'd managed to forget that," Agassi joked.

"This is certainly a great opportunity for me and I feel great about my game.

Tommy Haas was too strong for Andy Roddick

"Everybody's tough though and to beat all the people I have this week feels really good."

Agassi has already picked up one Masters Series title this year at the Nasdaq100 Open in March.

In the other semi-final Roddick was caught cold by Haas, who raced through the first set 6-1.

Roddick was far more competitive in the second set and it went with serve until the 11th game before Haas broke the American's serve.

Haas duly served out the match to clinch a final against Agassi.