CINCINNATI, Aug 6: Andre Agassi reached his first quarterfinal in five months with a revitalised performance that enabled him to overcome Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3 6-3 in the Masters Series on Thursday.
A former winner of all four grand slam titles built on his improved form of the previous round and struck the ball with more confidence and assertiveness than earlier in the year when he was bothered by a hip problem.
The 34-year-old 11th seed also moved much better than recently, enabling him to dictate the pattern against Chela and to repel for at least another day the continual talk of retirement.
The highlight of the match was the rally that took Agassi to break point on Chela's serve when leading 4-3 in the second set. He brought his 17th-seeded Argentine opponent forward with a drop shot before rolling a backhand topspin lob to within centimetres of the baseline to make the winner.
The charismatic American then converted the break chance at the first attempt with a passing shot and closed out the match without fuss. Agassi now lines up in a battle of former world number ones against Carlos Moya, who had to fight hard to get past lucky loser Wayne Arthurs.
Moya won 7-6 3-6 7-6, but needed to rally from a break down in the deciding set. The Spaniard also uncharacteristically got a code violation for striking a ball over the grandstand in a fit of temper.
Two other former world number ones meet in the top half of the draw as Marat Safin takes on Lleyton Hewitt. Safin overcame Ivo Karlovic and a bout of histrionics when he was incensed by a line decision to win 7-6 6-7 6-4 against his giant Croatian opponent.
Hewitt had an easier time of it in thrashing Tim Henman 6-1 6-4 to register his eighth victory over the Briton in as many attempts. Henman was possibly suffering from fatigue following a second round match that finished in the early hours of Thursday morning, and he could never match the energy, intensity and mobility of the Australian.
The favourite for the title, however, remains the defending champion Andy Roddick, who raced into the last eight with a 6-2 6-3 win over Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.
Also advancing to the last eight were Spain's Tommy Robredo, Germany's Tommy Haas and France's Fabrice Santoro. Robredo needed a pair of tiebreaks to edge big-serving Briton Greg Rusedski while Santoro eased to a 6-0 6-3 victory over Jonas Bjorkman. Haas was forced to dig deep to record a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win over Robin Soderling of Sweden in a night match.
THIRD ROUND RESULTS (PREFIX NUMBER DENOTES SEEDING): 11-Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-3 6-3 Tommy Hass (Germany) beat Robin Soderling (Sweden) 6-3 5-7 6-4 2-Andy Roddick (U.S.) beat 15-Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 6-2 6-3 10-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 5-Tim Henman (Britain) 6-1 6-4 4-Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Wayne Arthurs (Australia) 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 14-Marat Safin (Russia) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Greg Rusedski (Britain) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) Fabrice Santoro (France) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-0 6-3
MAURESMO TRIUMPHS
TORONTO: Amelie Mauresmo survived a shaky second set to defeat 14th-seeded Elena Bovina of Russia 6-2 3-6 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals of the $1.3 million Montreal Cup.
Second seed Mauresmo, the 2002 champion and highest ranked player in the tournament, was pushed hard but rebounded nicely after dropping the second set. Also advancing were third seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who easily defeated 15th seeded Chanda Rubin of the United States 6-4 6-0.
Jennifer Capriati of the United States, the fifth seed, defeated Mary Pierce of France 6-2 6-4 much to the disappointment of the locals. Capriati next meets unseeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva who upset 11th seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-2 6-3 to advance.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was eliminated in a tight night match by fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva. The 10th-seeded Zvonareva advanced with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over the sixth-seeded Sharapova, as the 17-year-old sensation could not maintain her momentum after winning the opening set.
In another match, 16-year-old Tatiana Golovin of France downed Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-7 6-3 6-4.
THIRD ROUND RESULTS (X DENOTES SEED): Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x2) bt Elena Bovina (RUS x14) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Jennifer Capriati (USA x5) bt Mary Pierce (FRA x17) 6-2, 6-4; Karolina Sprem (CRO x12) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN x7) 6-3, 6-4; Magdalena Maleeva (BUL x13) bt Paola Suarez (ARG) 6-4, 6-3; Tatiana Golovin (FRA) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 6-7 (0/7), 6-3, 6-4. -Agencies