SAN JOSE, Feb 12: Andre Agassi's bid for a record sixth San Jose Open title ended in a 6-3 6-1 quarter-final defeat to Austria's Juergen Melzer on Friday.
Top seed and defending champion Andy Roddick survived a scare against Sweden's Thomas Enqvist to win 3-6 7-6 7-5.
Melzer employed a combination of well-timed drop shots and solid groundstrokes to keep Agassi off balance throughout the match.
"I was frustrated. I just never found the range on my shots, especially on my serve," said the 34-year-old Agassi. "He does everything well. He moves well, returns well and has an awkward lefty serve."
Melzer has now won two of their three meetings, having beaten Agassi in Toronto last July.
Agassi, who failed to capitalise on any of his six break point opportunities, was among several players who complained that the balls being used by the tournament were soft and unpredictable.
He showed his frustration when he hit a ball into the stands early in the second set and received a warning from the umpire.
Melzer meets Cyril Saulnier in Saturday's semi-finals after the unseeded Frenchman won 6-2 6-4 against American Vince Spadea.
Enqvist showed flashes of the player who reached the 1999 Australian Open final but in the end Roddick proved too tough for the 30-year-old.
After losing the first set, the American fought back from 6-0 down to take the second set tiebreaker.
"I was saying to myself, 'I can't believe you're actually blowing this.'" said Roddick. "It was weird. I was up, I was down. It was so back and forth."
Roddick will next face German number three seed Tommy Haas, who beat Max Mirnyi 6-7 7-6 6-2 in a two-hour, 10-minute affair.
Mirnyi served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but his advantage slipped away as Haas overcame 18 aces to take his career record against the Belarussian to 7-0.
Quarterfinal results
Cyril Saulnier bt Vince Spadea (U.S.) 6-2 6-4; Tommy Haas bt Max Mirnyi 6-7 (2-7)7-6 (7-3) 6-2; Juergen Melzer bt Andre Agassi 6-3 6-1; Andy Roddick bt Thomas Enqvist 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5
Puerta UPSETS Moya
BUENOS AIRES: Top seed Carlos Moya was beaten by unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta in the straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Buenos Aires Open on Friday.
Puerta, who has not won an ATP singles title since Bogota in 2000, beat Moya 7-6 6-3 to rapturous applause from the 5,000 crowd, ending the Spaniard's dream of winning the tournament for the third time.
Moya, who went through his first two matches without dropping a set, won the first of his 18 singles titles in Buenos Aires 10 years ago and repeated his win in 2003.
Earlier, Alberto Martin became the first player into the semi-finals when he came from behind to beat fellow Spaniard Felix Mantilla 5-7 6-4 7-6.
Martin will meet the winner of the match between second seed Gaston Gaudio - aiming to win his second successive tournament after last week's victory in Vina del Mar - and 18-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who were playing later on Friday.
Quarterfinal results
Mariano Puerta bt Carlos Moya (Spain) 7-6 (7-0) 6-3; Alberto Martin bt Felix Mantilla 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
PARIS results
PARIS: Quarterfinal results from the $585,000 Paris Open WTA tennis tournament on Friday:
Amelie Mauresmo bt Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-2 7-6 (7-2); Dinara Safina bt Serena Williams (U.S.), walkover Nadia Petrova bt Marion Bartoli 2-6 6-1 7-5; Tatiana Golovin bt Silvia Farina-Elia (Italy) 6-0 0-0 (30-0), retired
Marseille Open results
PARIS: Quarterfinal results from the 510,250 euros Marseille Open ATP tennis tournament on Friday.
Feliciano Lopez bt Taylor Dent 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-8); Joachim Johansson bt Karol Beck 6-4 6-4; Mario Ancic bt Sebastien De Chaunac 7-6 (13-11) 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Sjeng Schalken 6-3 6-4.-Agencies
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