LONDON Australian Pat Rafter reached his second successive Wimbledon final when he beat Andre Agassi 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-2 8-6 in one of the great center court thrillers on Friday.

The third seed, beaten last year by Pete Sampras and playing almost certainly his last Wimbledon, will meet sixth seed Tim Henman or Croatian wild card Goran Ivanisevic in today's final.

That semifinal was halted early in the fourth set because of bad light with Henman, bidding to become the first Briton to reach the men's final since 1938, two sets to one ahead.

In a match of outstanding tennis and unremitting tension, Rafter was two points away from defeat at 5-4 in the final set, with Agassi serving.

But he won the next seven points to break back and claimed three match points on Agassi's serve as errors finally crept into the American second seed's game after almost three hours of tense battle, Reuters reported.

Agassi saved two with a whipped forehand pass and then a service winner but Rafter won with an angled backhand pass as center court rose to acclaim both exhausted men.

"Andre had a couple of opportunities early in the fifth set to put me away but he didn't so I feel very, very fortunate," Rafter said after his third Wimbledon semifinal against Agassi in three years.