Federer, Agassi Easily into Quarterfinals at US Open

Posted on September 7, 2004

Tournament favorite and world No. 1 Roger Federer, and sentimental favorite Andre Agassi put in little labor Monday at the US Open, advancing into the quarterfinals.

The Swiss Federer had the easiest Labor Day of all, receiving a walkover against Andrei Pavel who pulled from the match with a back injury.

"It is something I've been working on for a long time," said Pavel, who was forced to pull out of the 2003 Australian Open with the same disc problem. "But I thought I had it fixed up in a way. It happened in the fifth set."

The No. 6-seeded Agassi actually took to the court but put in barely more effort in subduing close friend Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian in straight sets to advance to a match-up with Federer.

"I never expect to win easily," said Agassi, who had never lost to Sargsian with the crowd-favorite Armenian coming off two tough five-setter. "I think matches have the potential of looking that way more than feeling that way."

Sarge said he was also uncomfortable in the match against his close friend and supporter.

"It's strange to play Andre, to be honest," Sarge said. "I really hope this is the last time I play him. I don't feel like I have a game plan against him. Like I don't know how to win the points."

Two other seeds advanced into the quarters, eking out wins over unseeded players in No. 5 Tim Henman (d. Kiefer in five, with the German retiring at 0-3 with a wrist injury), and No. 22 Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus 6-0 in the fifth due to leg cramps).

"Everything was OK (in the fifth) then three-love, first point, I had this reflex volley that came very fast, and I felt that something happened," Kiefer said. "I wanted to finish it...it got swollen, so something is wrong."

It is the first US Open quarterfinal berth for both Federer and Henman.

In doubles upsets, unseeded Spaniards Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal/Tommy "The R." Robredo beat No. 4 seeds Mahesh "Betty" Bhupathi/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and Olympic doubles gold medalists and unseeded Chileans Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez/Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu baseline-bashed No. 8-seeded Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk in three sets. Someone needs to stop the Chileans before serve-and-volley advocate and USA Network commentator John McEnroe loses his lunch on air.

On tap for Tuesday are (4)Hewitt vs. Beck (first meeting), Haas vs. Berdych (first meeting), (2)Roddick vs. (18)Robredo (A-Rod leads 6-0), and (28)Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson vs. Llodra (J.J. leads 1-0).

Henin-Hardenne Beaten at US Open, Davenport Boots Venus for Quarterfinal Berth

No. 5 seed Lindsay Davenport defeated No. 11 Venus Williams 7-5, 6-4 in a battle for former champions at the US Open Monday, proving her summer run of 21 consecutive wins and three titles is no joke.

For her troubles, Davenport should now face a relatively easy meeting with Shinobu Asagoe of Japan, the last unseeded player in the draw.

"I think, maybe (before), after one or two match points, I would have put my head down, missed a shot and it would have been over," said Davenport, who won on the fifth match point in the final game. "I tried to hang in there."

In the featured night match, world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne finally ran out of gas after her Athens Olympics golden run coming off injury, losing to Russian Nadia Petrova, who she had beaten in all five of their previous meetings.

"You don't feel good, you don't feel your game," Henin-Hardenne said. "It's normal what happened this week. I never felt free in my head, or 100 percent on the court. For sure, I am not at my best level physically. I never really felt powerful and strong like I did in the past."

As a result, H-H will lose the No. 1 ranking on Monday to either Amelie Mauresmo (which would be a first) or former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport.

Other winners on the day were the 28-year-old Asagoe (d. No. 29 Daniilidou in a three-set error-fest), and Russian No. 9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. No. 27 Pierce).

On court Tuesday are (2)Mauresmo vs. (6)Dementieva (Mauresmo leads meetings 5-2), and (3)Serena vs. (8)Capriati (Serena leads 10-6).

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