Roddick, Safin in Big Friday Match-Ups; U.S. Bails on Monte Carlo?

The 31-year-old rappin' Spadea improved to 11-9 on the year with the win, and will next face his countryman Fish.

"Mardy has a different style of game -- not a typical claycourter -- so it could be a tricky match," Spadea told reporters. "I can't let him dictate too much."

Also into the quarters were Austrian Jurgen Melzer (d. Daniel), and Spaniards Fernando Vicente (d. (Q) Dupuis) and Al Montanes (d. Behrend).

Friday's quarterfinal match-ups are Melzer vs. Vicente, Spadea vs. (WC) Fish (Vincenzo leads career meetings 3-0), (1) Roddick vs. (5) Haas (Roddick has won last three), and (7) Goldstein vs. Montanes.

Safin Sets Up Gaudio Meeting at ATP Valencia

Marat Safin, who in late February returned from a six-month hiatus due to a knee injury, continued to show sharp form Thursday at the ATP claycourt stop in Valencia, thumping Serb rising star Boris Pashanski 6-2, 6-2 to advance into his first quarterfinal of 2006.

Other winners into the quarters were No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio (d. Mayer), No. 6 Filippo Volandri (d. Zib), and Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro (d. Phau), all in straight sets.

"The win against Juan Carlos (Ferrero) gave me a lot of confidence, and I feel very good about my game right now," Almagro told reporters.

Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are Seppi vs. Simon, (6) Volandri vs. (Q) Almagro, (WC) Safin vs. (2) Gaudio in a battle of slam winners, and Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez vs. (7) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco.

Henin Lines Up Safina at WTA Charleston

Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne extended her Charleston win streak to 13 matches Thursday, beating Croat Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the quarterfinals at the claycourt Family Circle Cup.

"After the match you can say it's good, I won in two sets, but when you're on the court you just think about winning every point that's coming," Henin-Hardenne told reporters. "My shoulder, a few issues but not something major that is bothering me right now."

Henin-Hardenne will now face Russian Dinara Safina, who came from a set down to defeat qualifier Julia Vakulenko.

Other seeds into the quarterfinals were (2) Nadia Petrova (d. (14) Safarova), (3) Patty Schnyder (d. (16) Santangelo from a set down), (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Dominguez Lino), (6) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. (9) Medina Garrigues), (8) Nathalie Dechy (d. (11) Srebotnik), joined by unseeded Catalina Castano who advanced when (12) Marion Bartoli retired with injury.

Friday's quarters line up as Castano vs. (2) Petrova, (6) Groenefeld vs. (4) Kuznetsova, (1) Henin-Hardenne vs. (7) Safina, and (3) Schnyder vs. (8) Dechy.

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