Defending champion Andre Agassi continued his march towards a record fifth Nasdaq-100 Open Masters title with a 6-3, 7-5 quarter-final win over Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti last night.
Agassi will meet Chile's Marcelo Rios, who had a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 victory over Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela.
"I'm looking forward to it," said ninth seed Agassi, who has met Rios twice, losing both times including the 1998 Miami Masters final.
"This is where we played in the finals and I have strong memories of that. He seems like he's playing a lot better now and that's good.
"He certainly has a lot of talent but I feel ready. I really don't know what to expect. He strikes the ball as well as anybody".
Sixth seed Marat Safin of Russia booked his place in the quarter-finals by easing past Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 to set up a meeting with world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt needed two days to reach the last eight after defeating American James Blake 6-4, 6-1 in a rain-interrupted match yesterday.