Clijsters Tags Myskina, Williams Sisters Face Off Tuesday in Miami

American serve-and-volleyer Taylor Dent produced the biggest upset on the day, with the No. 31 seed taming the windy conditions to oust last year's runner-up and No. 4 seed Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-4.

"I feel like if I execute my game, I'm going to give anybody in the world a handful of trouble," Dent said. "So, you know, that's just kind of the mind-set I go out there with in every match. That's what happened today, I just happened to be executing from the start."

The complimentary Coria gave credit for his struggles to the net-pressure efficiency of Dent.

"The biggest difference was that Dent started serving very well from the beginning of the match," Coria said. "He was hitting very well the slice. I never felt comfortable out there, but I feel that I didn't play as well because of the way Taylor Dent played. He put a lot of pressure on me and played very well."

Other Top 10 seeds advancing were (6) Tim Henman (d. (28) Chela, dropping only four games), (7) Gaston Gaudio (d. (27) Grosjean), and (9) Andre Agassi (d. (Q) Clement), all in straight sets.

"I felt really settled from the beginning," said Agassi who was not bothered by the baseline tenacity of the Frenchman Clement. "I was very comfortable sort of hitting just a quality ball that I knew I could hit over and over again in tough conditions. I felt like I was always ready to step it up from there, sort of as I needed to, for any given point or shot. Felt pretty good out there."

Henman, along with Dent one of the rare players employing a mainly serve-and-volley style, gave Chela no chance while displaying a suffocating net game despite the windy conditions.

"I was aware early on, obviously, of the wind, but much, much cooler today," Henman said. "That makes it considerably slower. So that, I think, adds to my satisfaction in the way that I played because I knew -- I made a conscious effort not to try to start forcing the ball to get a little bit extra on different shots. But just really was focused on the style."

Other lower seeds advancing were (18) Mario Ancic (d. (16) Haas) and (23) Radek Stepanek (d. (Q) Morrison, bagel in the second), while Germany's Florian Mayer became the only unseeded player to advance on the day with a three-set win over (15) Fernando Gonzalez.

Tuesday's schedule in men's fourth round play in Miami is (WC) Gael "Force" Monfils vs. (26) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (9) Agassi vs. (7) Gaudio, (1) Federer vs. (18) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, (31) Dent vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer, Ferrer vs. Ferrero in an all-Spanish, (13) Ljubicic vs. (29) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, (25) T.Johansson vs. (24) Novak, and (23) Stepanek vs. (6) Henman.

Myskina Added to Clijsters Victim List at WTA Miami

Any more questions about Kim Clijsters' fitness level? Her wrist? How long until she finds her game again?

The former No. 1, unseeded at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami after an extended injury lay-off in 2004 and the beginning of 2005, added No. 5 seed Anastasia Myskina to her list of scalps Monday with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

"Everything is feeling pretty good," said Clijsters, who is coming off the title at Indian Wells where she beat world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport. "Starting to get a little bit tired, I guess, which I guess is a little normal. Few little aches and pains in other parts of the body. But just I was very happy to get through this win today."

Clijsters trailed 1-4 in the second set before running off five straight games for the match against the oft-choking Russian.

"I was tired out there in the second set, and I was starting to feel it a little bit," Clijsters said. "But just tried to, you know, make her -- if she was gonna win that second set, let her play. Don't give it to her and make her play. Then she started to make some mistakes, a double-fault here, a double-fault there, and then it can change pretty quickly."

Another Belgian former No. 1 on the comeback trial, No. 19 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, toughed out a three-set win over No. 7-seeded Aussie Alicia Molik 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

"It was very good, very good level today. Good match," Henin-Hardenne said. "That give a lot of confidence, you know, because she served so good, she played unbelievable. It was good fight. So I lost a little bit my concentration in the second set, but this kind of thing can happen when you come back after seven months. So I knew it could happen. I was ready for it."

The win sets up a first-time meeting for H-H with No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova.

"Sharapova is for sure going to be the favorite," Henin-Hardenne said. "We all know what she did in the last few months. We all know that she's very good player. We want the same thing, winning tomorrow."

Another unseeded upset was orchestrated by Serbian teen Ana Ivanovic, who dictated play in a three-set win over US Open holder and No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
 
"I think this is quite the big result for me," said the 6-foot 17-year-old Ivanovic. "I think also like the beginning of this year when I won my first WTA Tour title it was really also big thing for me. But now I'm really happy, I beat two Top 15 players. This give me more experience. I think I am pretty happy.

Joining Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne and Ivanovic in the quarterfinals were top seeds (1) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (16) Sprem), (2) Maria Sharapova (d. (23) Asagoe, dropping only three games), (3) Serena Williams (d. (15) Likhovtseva in three), (4) Elena Dementieva (d. (22) Golovin 6-1 in the third), and (8) Venus Williams (d. (Q) Castano 6-1 in the third).

The three-set struggling wins by the Williams sisters sets up an intriguing all-sister quarterfinal meeting in Miami today.

"More than anything, I just want to go out there and play my game (against Serena), just like I usually do every time," Venus said. "We always looked forward to the matches. Serena and I always had the kind of attitude, we didn't really care who we played as long as we were playing, and that included against both of us. I guess the only setback with playing with each other is that only one of us can win, and we both want each other to do so well that that's the only sad part, I think."

On tap Tuesday in Miami are (19) Henin-Hardenne vs. (2) Sharapova (first meeting), and (8) Venus vs. (3) Serena (Serena leads meetings 7-5, including wins in the last six).

DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Taylor Dent says he plays better when he's fat: "Well, as far as my game, I think, you know, I had some of my best results when I was actually my heaviest and arguably my slowest weight. For my game, for me to be successful, the bottom line is I have to be serving well, hitting the spots on my serves, and volleying very firm. That's just the bottom line. If I'm holding serve, I'm going to eke out a break here and there. But having said that, you can't argue that me getting faster doesn't make the game easier; I mean, it's going to make the game easier. So that's just what I was doing. Every chance I'd get, I'd go to my trainer, he'd just have me run from cone to cone until I collapsed."...Andre Agassi on traveling with the family: "My son's getting to an age where it's really starting to get fun. You get him  talk about something you're going to do, you can build anticipation, and then go enjoy it and sort of discover more of him as he experiences it. That's quite a good feeling."...Maria Sharapova on the reasons for her double-bageling in Indian Wells at the hands of Lindsay Davenport: "It was two things: One was that it just wasn't my day. I just wasn't able to find a way to fight, which I usually do even when I'm down, you know, a set and a break or two breaks. I usually find a way to open the door, and I don't think I found a chance to do that at all. And one thing was that Lindsay was just playing too good, and I wasn't playing well at all. So, you know, when your opponent's hitting winners off both sides, it's hard to find a rhythm. Plus you're making errors when you get a chance to win a point. You know, that's not a great combination."...Props to ESPN for showing six hours of tennis in the U.S. Monday, which softened the instant migraine we got in the staff office when they cut away from the thrilling Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Alicia Molik match to show a tape of eight guys playing poker. ESPN, the World Cards Leader. Hey guys, how about another Gin and Tonic while you grind away at that "sport"? Pace yourselves...Venus Williams was mum on Monday about the reality show in the works for her and sister Serena, with an apparent contract signed for a six-episode series on the ABC Family channel mainly concentrating on their off-court activities...Venus on the competition in Miami: "I couldn't possibly say that someone else is better than me when I'm competing." Looked at your results over the past six months much? At least that old Williams attitude is resurfacing...Here's Steve Tignor, managing editor for Tennis Magazine, overstepping his bounds of reason: "(Rafael) Nadal will most likely grind his way into the Top 10, but he doesn't have the firepower to be No. 1. Too many players hit a bigger ball, including his next opponent, another Spanish lefty, Fernando Verdasco." Umm...huh? Perhaps stick to editing and not writing. Just like he easily thumped Verdasco, anyone counting out "The Prodigy" this early in his career, you have to wonder about their knowledge of the game...Nice effort by Mariano Zabaleta, stepping up his game to challenge a shaky Roger Federer Monday night, but didn't the nationally-televised match make you want to pony-up $20 for a shave and a haircut for the Argentine, who looks like someone they pulled off an inner-city Miami street corner and slapped a white tennis shirt on? Stringy, greasy hair and a two-day face growth, that's so Miami Vice...Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement rubbed it in the Bryan brothers' face after ousting the Americans in the doubles at Miami earlier in the week, imitating their celebratory chest bump after match point. Ouch, kicking the bros when they're down, don't let poppa Wayne catch you guys in the locker room hallway.