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ROME, May 9: Andre Agassi fought off Argentina’s Agustin Calleri determined challenge to reach the quarterfinals of Rome Masters with a 7-6 7-5 win Thursday.
Seventh seed Tommy Haas, however, had little trouble dismissing France’s Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 6-4 in the third round.
In contrast to his 43-minute demolition of Michel Kratochvil in the previous round, the American had to battle for more than two hours to carve out victory.
Agassi will face Albert Costa in the last eight after Costa won an all-Spanish battle 7-6 6-3 against Albert Montanes.
The powerful Haas made the most of warm, dry conditions to impose himself on Grosjean in the early stages of their clash.
Grosjean’s marathon three-set win over Argentine David Nalbandian on Wednesday seemed to have taken its toll on the tenth seed as Haas dominated throughout with his blistering serves.
Haas is now the highest seed left in the Rome draw after a series of upsets rocked the tournament Tuesday and Wednesday.
He plays either Swede Thomas Enqvist or Carlos Moya of Spain for a place in the last four.
Haas was joined in the last eight by 14th seed Jiri Novak. The Czech disposed of Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-1.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Third round: 9-Andre Agassi (United States) beat Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5; Albert Costa (Spain) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; 14-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-4 6-1; 7-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat 10-Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-3 6-4.
BERLIN: Jennifer Capriati continued her claycourt preparations by brushing aside Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova 6-2 6-0 in just 43 minutes to reach the German Open quarterfinals Thursday.
Top seed Capriati, warming up for the defence of her French Open title which starts on May 27 in Paris, was in a class of her own against 14th seed Tulyaganova.
Tulyaganova looked helpless in the third-round encounter and she bowed out with a double fault on the third match point.
Australian Open champion Capriati has fond Berlin memories as the bubbly American, who was a losing finalist last year, made a big breakthrough in the German capital as a teenager by reaching the semifinals 11 years ago.
The world number two now plays either Swiss Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian or France’s Sandrine Testud for a spot in the last four.
Fourth seed Serena Williams also reached the quarterfinals, shrugging off a brave challenge from Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva for a 7-6 6-4 win.
Williams combined powerful winners with clumsy mistakes before moving past the unseeded Maleeva in 93 minutes.
The athletic American fought back from a break down in the first set to force a tie break, which she took 7-2 courtesy of her devastating serve.
The youngest Williams sister then stepped up a gear, breaking her opponent in the third game of the second set before sealing victory with a service winner on her second match point.
Williams now plays holder Amelie Mauresmo of France in an intriguing clash between two of the most powerful women on the circuit.
Mauresmo, seeded seventh, wasted little time in securing a 6-3 6-3 win over 10th-seeded Italian Silvia Farina Elia.
Fifth seed Justine Henin of Belgium survived a scare before overcoming Russian Elena Likhovtseva 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Last year’s Wimbledon finalist showed character by rallying back from 4-1 down in the decisive set.
She next plays France’s Nathalie Dechy, who beat triple French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 7-6 6-3.
Spaniard Sanchez-Vicario, the 13th seed, won in Berlin in 1995 but is now 30 and has dropped out of the top 15.
Sixth seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia also went out, Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova outplaying her 6-2 6-3.
Hantuchova, seeded 11th, will play Israel’s Anna Smashnova, who beat Spaniard Cristiana Torrens-Valero 7-6 6-0.
Results: Third round
Amelie Mauresmo (Fra x7) bt Silvia Farina Elia (Ita x10) 6-3, 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova (Svk x11) bt Jelena Dokic (Yug x6) 6-2, 6-3; Nathalie Dechy (Fra) bt Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spa x13) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Jennifer Capriati (USA x1) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzb x14) 6-2, 6-0; Anna Smashnova (Isr) bt Cristina Torrens-Valero (Spa) 7-6 (7/0), 6-0; Justine Henin (Bel x5) bt Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Serena Williams (USA x4) bt Magdalena Maleeva (Bul) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.—Reuters/AFP
