The Hindu : Agassi in last eight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Agassi in last eight

INDIAN WELLS, MARCH 17. Andre Agassi moved into the quarterfinals of the Pacific Life Open with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny on Tuesday.

Top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland and Argentinians Juan Ignacio Chela and Guillermo Coria were also among the fourth round winners.

In the women's competition, Lindsay Davenport earned a quarterfinal berth with a straight sets win over fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Federer ran his record for the year to 19-1 with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over American Mardy Fish. The victory was the Swiss star's 24th in 25 matches dating back to his Tennis Masters Cup title in November 2003.

Federer played his usual steady game to get past Fish, making just 11 unforced errors to the American's 28. Fish also had five double faults.

Chela, who had ousted two-time defending champion Lleyton Hewitt a day earlier, posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Germany's Tommy Haas. Coria lost the first set but came back to beat Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Chela followed his three-set win over Hewitt, which ended the Australian's 13-match winning streak, with another consistent performance against Haas.

The 24-year-old Argentine was especially effective with his spinning second serves, winning 15 out of 18 points in the match.

Haas, a former No. 2 coming back from a shoulder surgery in 2002 that sidelined him last year, complimented Chela. ``He counter-punched really well the whole time,'' Haas said. ``He didn't make any mistakes, played really solid and hit all the balls back.''

Former women's No. 1 Davenport, now at full strength after fighting injuries the past three years, strolled past Shaughnessy.

Davenport, ranked No. 4, was in her element again. She has lost only seven games in three matches this week at Indian Wells, where she has appeared in four of the last seven finals and won twice.

She underwent surgery last October to sever a nerve between the third and fourth toes on her left foot and relieve pain that had been hampering her.

Because of a string of ailments that began in 2001, Davenport was beginning to wonder if she should call it a career at 27.

Bhupathi-Mirnyi duo advances

In the second round of the doubles event, India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Belarussian Max Mirnyi defeated the Argentinian pair of Martin Garcia and Sebastian Prieto 7-5, 6-3.

The results:

Men (fourth round): Juan Ignacio Chela bt Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-2; Roger Federer bt Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-1; Guillermo Coria bt Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Andre Agassi bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-2.

Women (fourth round): Lindsay Davenport bt Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1, 6-3; Fabiola Zuluaga bt Laura Granville 7-5, 6-2; Gisela Dulko bt Marissa Irvin 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2); Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Amy Frazier 6-0, 6-3; Anastasia Myskina bt Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1; Nathalie Dechy bt Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Conchita Martinez bt Barbara Schett 6-1, 6-2; Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4.

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