Sharapova Quells Orgasmic Grunts; Agassi, Roddick Advance at Queen's

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
The Americans mowed through into the grasscourt quarterfinals at Queen's Thursday, with (2)Agassi punishing former Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek 6-1, 6-2, (3)Roddick getting revenge for last year's Wimbledon loss with a three-set win over Greg Rusedski, and (11)Dent upsetting (5)Schalken. No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt also advanced with a shaky win over Belgian giant Dick "Not Magnus" Norman, at one point saving six break points in the ninth game of the third set. Other winners were (6)Grosjean (d. (Q)Reid), (7)Henman (d. Saulnier in three), (8)Malisse (d. Rosset), and Dupuis (d. Ancic). Today's high-powered line-up shows Queen's always delivers, with match-ups including (1)Hewitt vs. (6)Grosjean (Hewitt leads series 6-2 with one grasscourt win), (8)Malisse vs. (2)Agassi (Agassi leads 3-0), Dupuis vs. (7)Henman, and (11)Dent vs. (3)Roddick (Dent leads 1-0). "They're not shy about giving me some big servers this week," said Roddick on facing Dent. "The last time I played Taylor he beat me pretty good. He probably feels more comfortable on grass than I do but it's just one more match." Roddick also offered insight into some of the coaching gems coming from Brad Gilbert. "Brad told me (wearing the sun visor) didn't look too intimidating. I couldn't come up with a good one-liner back at him so I bagged it."

At the Halle snooze-fest Thursday, top-seeded Roger Federer needed three sets to put away a Spaniard, not a good sign on the lawns, beating Fernando Vicente. Also advancing were (5)El Aynaoui (d. Burgsmuller), (8)Clement (d. Ljubicic), and Kucera (d. Santoro). Today the excitement level picks up a hair with the intriguing (1)Federer vs. (5)El Aynaoui match-up (Fed leads series 2-1), along with Kiefer vs. Stepanek (who leads the series 1-0), (3)Novak vs. (6)Youzhny (tied 2-2), and (8)Clement vs. Kucera (Frenchman leads 2-1). "Roger is a high-level player," El Aynaoui said. "He killed me in the Davis Cup in Morocco, hopefully I can hurt him with my serve. He was struggling at the beginning of his other matches, so I will have my chances. I watched some of his match against Vicente. And tomorrow I'm the underdog, so maybe the crowd will be supporting me."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
In Birmingham on Thursday, Russian hottie qualifier Maria Sharapova continued dispatching seeded players, though in a somewhat quieter manner than the orgasmic-like Monica-times-10 shrieking that accompanied her earlier win. "I had it in my mind that this time I was going to be quiet -- and my dad said I played a much better game today," said Sharapova, who pummeled (11)Mikaelian 6-0, 7-5 in the only upset on the day. Also advancing into the quarters were (1)Dementieva (d. Bartoli in three), (2)Daniilidou (d. (16)Pisnik in three), (3)Maleeva (d. (14)Cho in three), (10)Tanasugarn (d. (6)Raymond), and unseeded players Foretz (d. Perebiynis), Asagoe (d. Callens), and (Q)Vento-Kabchi (d. Razzano). Today's QF match-ups are Foretz vs. (3)Maleeva (Maleeva leads series 3-0), (10)Tanasugarn vs. (2)Daniilidou (first meeting), (1)Dementieva vs. (Q)Sharapova (first meeting), and Asagoe vs. (Q)Vento-Kabchi.

On the dirt in Vienna, qualifier Karolina Sprem continued her march through the seeded ranks into the semifinals, ousting (7)Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova in straight sets. The Croatian was joined by another surprise semifinalist, German Anca Barna, who bested (4)Farina Elia in three. No. 6 seed Paola Suarez continued her dominance over Jelena Dokic, dismissing the sputtering No. 1 seed in straight sets, while (2)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva booked her spot in the semis with a win over No. 8 Maja "I Can't Believe I was Seeded" Matevzic. The semis today are (6)Suarez vs. the unseeded Barna (Suarez leads the series 1-0 with a win at '95 L.A.), and (Q)Sprem vs. (2)Zvonareva (Sprem leads 1-0 with a win on clay earlier this year at Strasbourg).

TOUR NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg will play a televised (in England) exhibition at the Queen's Club (Stella Artois) between the singles and doubles finals...John McEnroe appeared in the first six finals at the Queen's Club...Players who have won Queen's/Wimbledon in the same year: John McEnroe (3 times), Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras (twice), and Lleyton Hewitt...Nicolas Kiefer entered Halle with a 2-6 record on the year...Xavier Malisse, the Anna of the men's tour, has yet to win a career title...The Williams sisters need a Wimbledon wildcard to get in the doubles draw, even though they are the defending champs...Train wreck Goran Ivanisevic damaged ligaments in his knee yesterday practicing with Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic...Sharapova, Stosur, and Morariu have been granted women's Wimbledon wildcards, as have the Lapentti brothers in doubles...James Blake is said to be fit to play an exo next week after withdrawing from Queen's this week with a shoulder injury...Alexandra Stevenson's hotel room was burglarized this week in Birmingham...Andy Roddick hit a 147 m.p.h. serve in his win over Greg Rusedski at Queen's, second only to Rusedski's world record of 149 m.p.h.