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SYDNEY, Jan 8: Top seed Marat Safin and second seeds Juan Carlos Ferrero and Kim Clijsters all cruised through to the quarterfinals of the Sydney International on Wednesday.
Safin overcame a sluggish start in stifling heat to beat Jarrko Nieminen 3-6 6-1 6-2 while Ferrero hammered Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-2 and Clijsters crushed Patty Schynder 6-1 6-3.
Safin, last year’s Australian Open runner-up, was completely out of sorts in the first set against Nieminen, spraying his groundstrokes all over the centre court and struggling to land his serves.
But the giant Russian suddenly found his rhythm after losing the first set to win 12 of the final 15 games and earn himself a place in the last eight.
French Open finalist Ferrero lost just five games as he brushed past Russian Davis Cup hero Youzhny in a little over an hour.
Relegated to one of the back courts, where the westerly breezes kept the players a little cooler than on the centre court, the Spaniard played a near faultless match to win easily.
Clijsters, playing her first match after getting a bye through to the second round, was also in a hurry to get out of the sun as she disposed of Schynder.
The Belgian has been in Australia since December staying and training with her boyfriend Lleyton Hewittt trying to improve her fitness and said the tough workout will do her good.
Results
MEN: Marat Safin bt Jarkko Nieminen 3-6 6-1 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-2; Mardy Fish bt Carlos Moya 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-4; Lee Hyung-Taik bt Andy Roddick 7-6 (7-5) 7-5; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Max Mirnyi 3-6 6-4 6-4; Rainer Schuettler bt Gaston Gaudio 7-6 (7-5) 6-0; Wayne Ferreira bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4; Franco Squillari bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 6-4
WOMEN: Lindsay Davenport bt Lisa Raymond 6-4 6-1; Kim Clijsters bt Patty Schynder 6-1 6-3; Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Janette Husarova 6-1 6-0; Chanda Rubin bt Alexandra Stevenson 6-1 6-3; Amanda Coetzer bt Magdalena Maleeva 6-4 6-1; Olga Barabanschikova bt Elena Bovina 7-6 (7-1) 6-2.
Scud, Agassi WIN
MELBOURNE: Australian powerhouse Mark Philippoussis ground out a 5-7 6-4 7-6 victory over former world number two Alex Corretja at Kooyong on Wednesday, but refused to consider himself a contender for the Australian Open.
The first grand slam of the year kicks off on Monday but Philippoussis — a U.S. Open runner-up in 1998 — says he is simply not ready to challenge for honours in his hometown.
Philippoussis said he was using the Open as part of a long- term plan to get back to the top after suffering yet another agonising set-back at the U.S. Open last August.
Another bout of knee surgery has allowed Philippoussis to resume his injury-dogged career once again but he insists he is not capable of stringing together seven five-set matches at this stage of his comeback.
Philippoussis played his first comeback match last week in Chennai, India. He lost 6-2 6-1 in the second round to Germany’s Rainer Schuettler, and is happy to put that nightmare behind him.
In the event, he won, beating Corretja in a tight battle that allowed him a proper run-out.
Andre Agassi spent less time on court, beating Swede Thomas Enqvist 7-6 6-3 as he fine tunes his aggressive baseline game before heading into the Open as second seed.
Agassi will face French 16-year-old Richard Gasquet in the next stage of the round robin warm-up event after he beat Younes El Aynaoui — seeded 18th at next week’s Open — 7-6 6-3.
Agassi will be showing the youngster no mercy.
Results
Sebastien Grosjean bt Xavier Malisse 2-6 6-4 1-0; Richard Gasquet bt Younes El Aynaoui 7-6 (7-1) 6-3; Andre Agassi bt Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; Mark Philippoussis bt Alex Corretja 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
Tasmanian results
HOBART, Australia: Results of quarterfinal matches in the Tasmanian International women’s tennis tournament on Wednesday:
Alicia Molik bt Vera Zvonareva 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4; Elena Likhovtseva bt Jill Craybus 7-5 6-4; Iveta Benasova bt Shinobu Asagoe 6-3 7-6 (7-4); Amy Frazier bt Angelika Roesch 6-3 6-0.
