London, June 13: Andre Agassi is back at no. 1. The American defeated Xavier Malisse 6-3 7-5 at Queen's club today to reach the semi-finals of the grass-court Wimbledon warm-up. The victory -- coupled with Lleyton Hewitt's 6-3 6-4 loss to Sebastian Grosjean -- means Agassi will move up one spot to no. 1 in next week's ATP rankings. Hewitt will slip to no. 2.

"I wasn't aware of that," Agassi said. "It feels amazing to accomplish it at this stage of my career, but I'd rather be no. 1 in my match tomorrow. One at a time."

Agassi is now in line to be seeded no. 1 for Wimbledon, which begins June 23. The seeds will be announced on Monday.

The Wimbledon seeding committee, which does not necessarily follow the world rankings, could also make defending champion Hewitt no. 1.

Agassi, 33, became the oldest man ever to hold the no. 1 ranking when he moved into the top spot in April. But he lost the no. 1 spot the next week, losing in the first round to David Ferrer at the Italian Open.

In another quarterfinal today, seventh-seeded Tim Henman of Britain beat Anthony Dupuis of France, 6-1 6-4. He will face Grosjean in tomorrow's semi-finals.

Agassi survived 16 aces by Malisse -- including four in a row in one game -- to reach the semi-finals in his first appearance here in three years.

Bureau Report