|
|
|
| March 27, 2003 | Thursday | Muharram 23, 1424 |
Agassi passes test against ‘Scud’
MIAMI (Florida), March 26: Andre Agassi, who cruised through his first two matches without dropping a set, got his first tough test against ‘Scud’ Mark Philippoussis on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old American rallied to beat Philippoussis 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the 6.2 million dollar WTA and ATP Masters Series tournament.
After capturing the first set, Philippoussis, of Australia, was able to challenge Agassi consistently until Agassi took control halfway through the second set.
Second seed Agassi, who will play Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco in the quarter-finals, is known for his trademark return-of-serve but had difficulty getting a read on the huge serve of Philippoussis.
Agassi was only successful at breaking serve on four of 14 attempts. But it was a break in the eighth game of the second set that enabled him to pull even at one set apiece.
The win bodes well for Agassi if Philipoussis’ string of losing to tournament finalists continues.
The Australian lost to the eventual finalists at San Jose, Memphis and Scottsdale this year.
Although Serena Williams allowed French qualifier Marion Bartoli to break her serve three times in their quarter-final match, the world No. 1 posted a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Williams said she was impressed by Bartoli, adding the score didn’t reflect the closeness of the match.
Belgium’s Kim Clijsters joined Serena Williams in the women’s semifinal with an easy 6-2, 6-0 win over the struggling Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia.
Fourth seed Roger Federer, a finalist here last year, captured a 6-3, 6-2 win over Dutchman Sjeng Schalken to move into the quarterfinals against Albert Costa of Spain.
The ninth-seeded Costa, the 2002 French Open champion, beat Guillermo Coria of Argentina 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 for a quarterfinal slot.
Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan moved into the quarter-finals without breaking a sweat when Chilean Marcelo Rios forfeited their match because of a lower back injury.
Srichaphan was unaware that Rios was injured until he arrived at the stadium on Tuesday morning and saw the Chilean getting treatment on his back.
Nicolas Escude had fifth seed Carlos Moya on the defensive in the fourth round match Tuesday, having carved out a 3-1 lead in the first set and a 4-1 advantage in the second set. But the Frenchman eventually lost 6-4, 7-6 (10/8).
Escude said he was thinking ahead to a possible easy quarter-final encounter against either Lee Hyung-Taik of South Korea or American Robby Ginepri. Ginepri beat Lee later in the day 6-3, 6-2.
The women’s quarterfinals will conclude on Wednesday, when fourth-seeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne faces 12th-seeded American Chanda Rubin and the sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati takes on fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy.
Tuesday’s results:
Men’s fourth round: Andre Agassi bt Mark Philippoussis 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Roger Federer bt Sjeng Schalken 6-3, 6-2; Carlos Moya bt Nicolas Escude 6-4, 7-6 (10/8); Albert Costa bt Guillermo Coria 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Marcelo Rios walkover; Younes El Aynaoui bt Nicolas Lapentti 6-0, 7-6 (9/7); Todd Martin bt Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2; Robby Ginepri bt Lee Hyung-Taik 6-3, 6-2
Women’s quarterfinals: Serena Williams bt Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-2; Kim Clijsters bt Jelena Dokic 6-2, 6-0.—AFP
|
|
|
|
