HOUSTON (Texas), April 27: Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras posted straight-sets wins at the $400,000 US Clay Court Championships on Friday to line up a semifinal showdown between the two long-time rivals.

Second seed Agassi, playing in his first clay court event of the season, needed just 65 minutes to dispose of Denmark’s Kristian Pless 6-3, 6-3.

Fourth seed Sampras, who has not won a clay court event since Atlanta in 1998 and is without any sort of title since Wimbledon 2000, has looked more and more at home on the dirt with each match and reached the last four with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win over fellow American Todd Martin.

The other semifinal pits defending champion Andy Roddick against Argentine baseliner Guillermo Coria.

Roddick, attempting to become the first player to successfully defend the crown since Argentine Jose-Luis Clerc in the early 1980s, blasted 10 aces on the way to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Davis Cup team mate James Blake.

In the other quarterfinal, Coria defeated Australia’s Wayne Arthurs, who upset top seed Tommy Haas in the second round, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

“I was getting good looks on his serve and I felt I was tough mentally throughout the match,” said Roddick, who will appear in his fourth ATP semifinal of the season.

“I have to be sharp because he (Coria) loves this surface. It will be a tough match.”

Agassi, who will play in his fourth semifinal in five events this season, struggled at times in the opening set against Pless to stamp his authority on the contest.

But he wasted no time taking control in the second when he broke the Dane to go 2-1 up, and again to close out the match.

“I was hitting my shots well and consistently throughout the match,” said Agassi. “I feel great and I’ve been working hard. Every day is a new day and I’m trying to get better.”

The semifinal will mark the 33rd time Agassi and Sampras have met as professionals.

Sampras leads the series 18-14 but Agassi holds the edge on clay 3-1.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Quarterfinals: 4-Pete Sampras (US) beat 7-Todd Martin (US) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); 2-Andre Agassi (US) beat Kristian Pless (Denmark) 6-3, 6-3; 3-Andy Roddick (US) beat James Blake (US) 6-2, 6-4; Guillermo Coria (Argentina) beat Wayne Arthurs (Australia) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.—Reuters