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WASHINGTON, D.C. Aug 17: Top seed Andre Agassi was made to work hard before reaching the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic with a tough 6-7 7-6 6-3 victory over Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist Friday.
The American’s victory evened their lifetime score at 4-4.
Agassi will now face number six seed James Blake after the 22-year-old former Harvard University student beat Spain’s fourth-seeded Alex Corretja 6-4 6-4.
It is the second time this year Blake has defeated Corretja. He also won their first-round encounter at the Australian Open.
In other matches, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who upset Agassi in the second round at Wimbledon this year, continued his giant-killing run at the Washington event with a 6-3 7-5 victory over eighth-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
He now meets fifth seed Marcelo Rios, who was granted a wild card for the event, in the other semifinal. Rios beat 16th-seed Fernando Meligeni of Brazil 3-6 6-4 7-5.
Meligeni upset defending champion Andy Roddick in the third round.
Results (prefix denotes seedings):
Quarterfinals: 1-Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat 7-Thomas Enqvist 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; 6-James Blake (U.S.) beat 4-Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-4 6-4; 14-Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat 8-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-3 7-5; 5-Marcelo Rios (Chile) beat 16-Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) 3-6 6-4 7-5
INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana): Greg Rusedski followed up his victory over Lleyton Hewitt by defeating Dutchman Martin Verkerk 6-4 7-6 to reach the semifinals of the Indianapolis Open Friday.
He will next play third seeded German Tommy Haas, who edged past sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Rusedski and Verkerk fought out a closely contested first set and it was not until the ninth game that Rusedski took the lead, hitting a lob that had Verkerk scrambling to make a return that landed wide.
The match continued in the same vein in the second set with Rusedski unable to convert break points in the first and seventh games.
Rusedski also saved a break, and set, point in the 10th game before the 14th-seeded Briton was able to hold on and win in the tiebreak.
Despite an ailing shoulder, Haas hit 10 aces against Grosjean in a match that see-sawed throughout but was ultimately settled in the third set when the German broke twice to lead 5-1.
He failed to serve out at the first attempt, but came through on his next service game to reach his second semifinal in three weeks.
Rainer Schuettler struggled to end the run of lucky loser Arnaud DiPasquale of France, dropping the first set before rallying for a 2-6 6-4 6-1 victory.
DiPasquale romped through the final four games of the opening set, despite double-faulting twice at 40-15 in the final game.
In the second set Schuettler built a 4-1 lead, only for DiPasquale to fight back to 5-4 before the ninth seeded German secured the set.
In the deciding set, Schuettler ran away with the match, losing only the fourth game to wrap up victory in just under two hours.
Schuettler will play unseeded Felix Mantilla of Spain, who recovered from a set and a break down to beat France’s 15th seed Arnaud Clement 1-6 6-4 6-4.
Results:
Quarterfinal: Felix Mantilla (Spain) beat 15-Arnaud Clement (France) 1-6 6-4 6-4; 14-Greg Rusedski (Britain) beat Martin Verkerk (Netherlands) 6-4 7-6 (8-6); 3-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat 6-Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-3 3-6 6-3; 9-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat Arnaud Di Pasquale (France) 2-6 6-4 6-1
MONTREAL: Yugoslavia’s Jelena Dokic cut short the comeback of former world number one Martina Hingis by knocking her out of the Canadian Open tennis quarterfinals 6-4 6-3 Friday.
The $1.2 million Canadian Open, a warm-up for the U.S. Open, was the first tournament Hingis had played in three months, after undergoing left ankle surgery in May.
Third seed Dokic frequently outflanked Hingis with her powerful shots in a match that lasted little more than an hour.
Results:
Quarterfinal: 3-Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia) beat 6-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-3; 2-Jennifer Capriati (U.S.) beat 5-Justine Henin (Belgium) 4-6 6-0 6-2; 8-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Barbara Schett (Austria) 6-3 6-3; 7-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) 6-0 6-2—Reuters
