Agassi Turns Up the Heat in LA; Davenport Cruises in StanfordPosted on July 16, 2004
Agassi, who won the LA title in 1998, 2001 and 2002 served three aces in the final game, and the 34-year-old American has now won 21 of his last 22 matches at the UCLA Tennis Center. His lone loss was to some guy named Pete Sampras in the 1999 final.
“The first set I felt in control, meaning I like the way it was going and getting up a break,” said Agassi, who is seeking his first title since April of 2003 at Houston. “I missed a few first serves that game, and he hit a few good shots and he got the break back. Then it turned into a nip and tuck set, but I stepped it up in the breaker and hit some good shots.”
The win for Agassi was his 801st of his career, and it sets up a tantalizing meeting with German star Tommy Haas, who crushed Kenneth Carlsen 6-2, 6-0. Agassi has won four of six meeting with Haas, but the two haven’t met in over two years. At least on the court, that is.
Two seeds were not as fortunate as Agassi on Thursday, as No. 2 seed Paradorn Srichaphan was upset by big-serving Jeff “Battleship” Morrison, and fifth-seeded Sjeng Schalken fell in three sets to Wesley Moodie “Blues” of South Africa.
Today’s quarterfinal line-up boasts Mardy “The” Fish vs. Cyril Saulnier, “Goofy” Greg Rusedski vs. Nicolas Kiefer, Agassi vs. Haas and in a battle of two players vying for the their first ATP semifinal, it’s Moodie vs. Morrison
In lovely Stuttgart, French Open champ Gaston “Did I Really Win a Slam?” Gaudio got a good workout in playing and winning two singles matches Thursday. First, the No. 2 seed had to complete his second round match against qualifier Hugo Armando before taking on Tomas Berdych in his third round match. Gaudio won the postponed third set 7-6(5) despite being two points away from defeat when Armando was serving at 5-4, 30-0. Gaudio then took care of business easily dispatching Berdych in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Rafael “The Prodigy” Nadal continued to impress in his comeback to the sport. The Spaniard never faced a break point in a 6-2, 6-3, beating over Juan Ignacio Chela. No. 12 seed Albert Costa and No. 5 seed Jiri Novak also advanced.
In the quarterfinals today, Gaudio will face Novak, Nadal gets countryman David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko meets Costa and our boy Radek Stepanek faces Guillermo “Test Me, I Dare You” Canas.
In Amersfoort, top seed Nicolas Massu advanced to his fifth quarterfinal of the year after defeating Dutchman “Everybody Loves” Raemon Sluiter 6-4, 7-6(4). Massu next meets German Tomas Behrend, who defeated Spaniard Albert Portas 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. Dutch fav Martin “Berserk” Verkerk advanced to his sixth quarterfinal of the year with a tough 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2, win over Adrian Garcia ,and he now meets Spaniard David Sanchez, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Jean-Rene Lisnard. Also, Spaniard Alberto Martin saved four match points in his win over Australian qualifier Peter Luczak 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6), and Dutchman Dennis Van Scheppingen crushed Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-0 to reach his first quarterfinal of the year.
Today’s quarterfinal lineup looks like this: Massu vs. Behren, Verkerk vs. Sanchez, Martin vs. Van Scheppingen and Igor Andreev vs. Fernando Gonzalez.
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"It’s tough not to know what to expect, but in 80 to 90 percent of my matches, I’m just focusing on my own game," Davenport said. "I played at high enough standard to be successful and she made a few errors. I moved her around well and was in control of most of the points."
Davenport has enjoyed consistent results throughout her career in the Bay Area advancing to the quarterfinals in all 11 of her Stanford appearances and she’s failed to reach the semifinals just once (1996). The 1998 and '99 champion, along with 2000 and 2001 runner-up, Davenport now holds a 26-7 record at the tournament and has won more prize money here than any other player.
"This is just the beginning of a long summer and a nice way to start," said Davenport. "I love this tournament and was disappointed when I couldn’t come last year. Fortunately, this time I feel good."
Skavronskaia, a former standout at the University of Miami, was impressed with how deep Davenport was hitting the ball and with her accuracy.
"It's my first match in a big tournament against a Top 10 player and I'm happy with my results here and my game today," Skavronskaia said. "I practice with boys all the time and I was quite surprised. She hits harder than most of my hitting partners."
No.3 seed Patty Schnyder reached the quarterfinals at Stanford for the first time with a 6-3, 6-2, win against Australia's Nicole Pratt. Francesca Schiavone, a semifinalist last year defeated Jelena Kostanic, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), with an ace on match point. And for the second straight year, Schiavone's quarterfinal opponent will be No.6 seed Amy Frazier after the American saved secured a 6-3, 7-6(0), victory on her against Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. Frazier is playing in Stanford for the 15th consecutive year.
So with that, today’s Elite Eight schedule includes Davenport vs. Washington, Frazier vs. Schiavone, Schnyder vs. Vento-Kabchi and Venus Williams vs. Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi.
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Top seeded Andre Agassi continued to show improved and renewed form Thursday night as he posted a 7-6(4), 6-2, win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau to advance to the quarterfinals for the eighth time in nine tries at Los Angeles.