Americans Put the

Malisse said it was his return of serve that brought him back into the match from 0-2 sets down.

"I think from the back (court), he was just too solid in the beginning," Malisse said. "I couldn't get to the net. All his backhands were deep and cross-court. You know, I couldn't play too aggressive. If I would play too aggressive, be hitting stupid shots from way back. You know, he served well. I think the only -- I started ripping good returns on second serve, and I should have done that a little earlier in the match."

On Wednesday night Agassi will meet Blake, who rebounded from a slow start against Robredo in dropping the first set.

"I know I'm not in a Hollywood script, otherwise I probably would have won a lot more this year," Blake said. "I've always known I had a chance to go deep in a major or go and win a tournament and play with these guys because I can put together a good set here, a good match there. I don't think of it as fate or anything. I think it's a lot of hard work."

Also into the quarters was No. 8 seed Guillermo Coria, advancing with a contentious five-set win over Nicolas Massu, the longest match of the tournament at approximately 4-1/2 hours. Both players traded smack talk and took various injury time-outs, with some heated exchanges across the net and on the sidelines during changeovers.

"If his conscience is calm, then fine," Massu said. "If it's not, then he knows he did something wrong...I've got nothing negative to say about Guillermo. I've never felt that we've had a special rivalry. On the contrary, I've always respected him. But he was showing an attitude that I didn't like. He knows what he did. I hope it was just a misunderstanding."

Coria elaborated on the confrontation through a translator, taking time-outs during the match for a toenail and arm injury.

"It was a misunderstanding," said Coria's translator. "(Coria) lost a toenail on his foot, and he took some time. Massu was thinking that he was it was not a real injury. After the changeover, nothing happened, nothing further happened."

According to the New York Times, Coria said later that he told Massu during the match to "Stop being paranoid. Mind your own business," and to "take care of your own game." While there were no exchanges in the locker room after that match, the atmosphere was definitely tense before each player got his chance to vent in the post-match conference.

Coria will next face Ginepri, the winner over Gasquet who had been troubled by tennis elbow this week.

"He's got an unbelievable backhand. You can't read it," said Ginepri of the Frenchman's artful one-hander. "You don't know if he's going up the line or he holds it to go cross-court. He's very talented. He's going to definitely be up there in contention for Grand Slam titles. It was such a tough match. I know that his arm was bothering him. I don't know how bad that was hurting."

Scheduled for Tuesday at the US Open in singles are (3) Hewitt vs. (15) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (1) Federer vs. Kiefer, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. Nieminen, and (11) Nalbandian vs. Sanguinetti, and in doubles highlights (1) Bjorkman/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Czechs (12) Suk/Vizner, (9) Aspelin/Perry vs. unseeded Americans Goldstein/Thomas, unseeded Frenchmen Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau/Mahut vs. (2) the Bryan brothers, and Zimbabwe's (4) Black/Ullyett vs. Israel's (11) Erlich/Ram.

Pierce Shocks Henin for Place in US Open Quarters

No. 12 seed Mary Pierce, fit and ready for revenge after getting bread-sticked 6-1, 6-1 in their last meeting, provided the upset of the day Monday at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4 win over an out-of-sorts and injured No. 7 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne to advance into the quarterfinals.

Serving at 4-5, 15-40 in the final game, the usually-stoic Henin-Hardenne appeared near tears after two sets of poor footwork, and uncharacteristic unforced errors and shaky serving.

Pierce on the other hand was at her battering-ram best, from the first game rarely giving the Belgian a chance to find her rhythm, and slapping winners at the first opportunity. Pierce hit four winners in the opening game en route to her first win in five meetings with the former No. 1.

"I just played unbelievably well at the beginning, even my shanks were going in," Pierce said. "I know Justine has been struggling. She's probably not feeling too well, a little tired and a little bit injured."

Henin-Hardenne's movement, especially in the second set, appeared to be hampered by her ongoing hamstring injury. The Belgian says she will take off for an unspecified amount of time until it is completely healed.

"It's now a few months I have to play with it," Henin-Hardenne said. "I'll have to take some decisions in the next few days. I'm not going to walk back on the court until my injury doesn't bother me at all. I'll see how long it's going to take."

Other easy straight-set winners were (2) Lindsay Davenport (d. (15) Dechy, bagel in the first), (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (19) Likhovtseva), and (6) Elena Dementieva (d. (11) Schnyder).

"This is one of the best matches I've played for sure here so far, and I felt like I was really aggressive and yet I could move well," said Davenport with an ominous message for her opponents. "My back wasn't a problem. You know, I was consistent, hitting the ball hard, very excited about that."

Mauresmo, still looking for her first career slam title, says it's all about staying relaxed.

"I'm doing better and better, even though it hasn't come yet to go to the last to the end, I mean," Mauresmo said. "So, you know, I'm just taking it very in a very relaxed way this year here at the US, just the way I think I was at Wimbledon. I'm trying to, you know, keep that momentum going."

Dementieva said her main difficulty was waiting for the Guillermo Coria-Nicolas Massu match to end so she could go on court.

"That was one of the more difficult matches I have ever played in my life after waiting like 4-1/2 hours, thanks to Coria," Dementieva said after beating Schnyder. "I did my warm-up, had my lunch, then fell asleep. Then I start it all over again. I was completely out of focus and it was very difficult to get into the match and just to play good."

On tap for Tuesday at the US Open are (1) Sharapova vs. (9) Petrova in an all-Russian, and (4) Clijsters vs. (10) Venus.

Venus says she and Clijsters play similar styles, with the Belgian winning their last encounter, but that she is the favorite with her ability to raise her level.

"We play similar games," Venus said. "We're good at covering the court and hitting hard. What's different is I'm able to play that game a little better, serve and return better, run a few more balls down. Usually when we play, I'm able to play that same game, but I step up more."

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer bids to win his 32nd consecutive hardcourt match today against Nicolas Kiefer, and if he reaches the final will tie the record held by Pete Sampras for the most successive hardcourt wins...Lleyton Hewitt is in the round of 16 for the eighth time in a row at a slam...A win by Jarko Nieminen today would make him the first Fin to reach a slam quarterfinal...Dominik Hrbaty has only been to the quarters of a slam once -- the 1999 French semis...Roger Federer is the only man to reach the round of 16 without losing a set at the US Open...Pete Sampras twice hit the hardcourt win-streak record of 34 in a row during his career...Tuesday Quiz -- you're a tennis junkie if you can: name the three players who have beaten Roger Federer this year. Tennis junkie, get off the dope!...Five of Nicolas Kiefer's six career titles have come on hardcourt...Imagine, someone getting into an altercation with the crotch-grabbing, smack-talking Guillermo Coria, shame on Nicolas Massu who looked like he was ready to climb over the net and beat some ass Monday night against the ever-increasingly controversial Argentine...Highlighted by the fourth-round match between Venus and Serena Williams, the ratings for CBS Sports' coverage on Sunday were up 15 percent over last year...On Monday two umpires brought a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit to the US Open parking lot, according to the AP. Cecil Hollins and Sande French, both African-American, sued the USTA and ITF in federal court last month, alleging they were discriminated against after they complained that blacks and females were not treated fairly on the job. They also said other minority umpires have been subjected to racial slurs while they faced limited opportunities in a hostile work environment. At a news conference outside the grounds of the National Tennis Center on Monday afternoon, Hollins and French contended that no woman or racial minority member has ever umpired the men's final at the US Open...James Blake is the first African-American male to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open since Rodney Harmon in 1982, and the second wildcard to reach the quarters after Jimmy Connors in 1991...James Blake needs to pull the reins on his "J-Block" fans, who are now resembling Lleyton Hewitt's "Fanatics" crew with their taunting of Blake's opponents...Tim Henman says had been advised to rest his sore back for three weeks before returning to play...From the LA Times Lisa Dillman: "Kim Clijsters' decision to contribute $25,000 to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts is not an isolated act of charity, and it's tangible, unlike Serena Williams' pledge of $100 an ace. She got involved when an orphanage in India was destroyed by the tsunami last December, becoming the children's "godmother," and smiled when it was suggested she now has 60 kids. "They're starting to rebuild everything," she said. "We're trying to help out. -- I told my dad, 'Maybe there's something we can do and maybe I can help in a way. We can help with the orphanage.' I think that was a great idea.""...From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Charlie "Brick" Bricker: "On Wednesday, and undoubtedly in a made-for-television night match against his childhood idol, Andre Agassi, (James) Blake can not only become the first black man to reach the Open semis but bring himself very close to transcending tennis and becoming something of an American sports icon as well. His personality is that scintillating, his history that compelling." Scintillating personality? And what is Brick, a self-described blog-hater, now doing with a blog of his own on the Sun-Sentinel site? Some samples: "My knee surgery (a couple pieces of frayed cartilage) was more than four months ago, but there's still a little nuisance on the right side and, while discussing this little matter with long time ATP trainer Bill Norris, he produced his magic formula -- Tennisage, by Bill Norris. You know, like tennis and massage. "Rub this in," said Norris. I have been for a week and, yeah, it works. Is this a shameless plug for Norris' "soothing, greaseless massage cream for tennis players?" I suppose. But he didn't ask for it. I'm just grateful for the help." And from Monday: "I always take binoculars out to the Arthur Ashe stadium court in order to examine facial expressions of the players -- to see if it reflects their mood as the match wears on. But it's been very tough to watch James Blake matches the last eight days. Nothing wrong with James' play, of course. It's just easy to be drawn to the stunning good looks of his girl friend, blonde-haired Jennifer Scholle, up in the players box with the Blake family and friends, and his coach, Brian Barker. He met her, of all places, in the Saddlebrook suite at Raymond James Stadium, while watching a Tampa Bay Bucs game. She was a server in the suite." Watch out Peter Bodo, the Brick is on the blog map -- with his binoculars...From CBS Sportsline's Lloyd Garver: "There were a couple of innovations in this year's Open. They revealed a new color in "U.S. Open blue," something that will probably be in kids' crayon boxes soon. And to get the fans more involved, this year if you catch a tennis ball, you get to keep it instead of having to throw it back. At least one NBA team, the L.A. Lakers, is rumored to be considering doing something similar this season to renew fan interest. Word is that the Lakers are considering ruling that Laker fans who catch a basketball may keep it instead of throwing it back. This is ironic because Kobe Bryant has ruled that if another Laker player catches the ball, he must immediately throw it back -- to him."...Ouch, lots of angry tennis fans in the U.S. when USA Network went off the air at 11pm (EST) in the middle of the Robby Ginepri-Richard Gasquet match, with CBS locals choosing to go to the 11pm news instead of picking up the match. With the match going to five sets, CBS caught the last couple games live after David Letterman.