Roland Garros round up
Seasoned warrior Andre Agassi looked neither left nor right but strode straight into the quarter-finals of the French Open today with a performance of supreme confidence.
As his rivals have fallen by the wayside, the 33-year-old second seed has got stronger and tougher on the Roland Garros clay. Today, Flavio Saretta was his victim.
The Brazilian had already ousted a former champion and world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Agassi, though, is hewn from different stuff. With a boldness borne from 18 years at the pinnacle of the sport, Agassi dominated centre court, sinking his opponent 6-2 6-1 7-5 in 103 minutes.
"I think, for me, I came into Roland Garros with not many matches on the clay," he said. "It was important for me to get some matches going. Now my game is starting to feel much better," said Agassi who will now face either Guillermo Coria or Mariano Zabaleta.
Kim Clijsters will also be feeling a lot better after a remarkable comeback in her fourth round match. The Belgian's relief was palpable when she recovered from the shock of losing the opening set of her match with Magdalena Maleeva in which she did not win a game.
In truth, Clijsters' 0-6 6-2 6-1 victory was largely down to her opponent's capitulation and she will have to be more on the ball when she faces Conchita Martinez in the quarter-finals.
Martinez advanced when sixth seed Lindsay Davenport retired from the match trailing 6-4 2-0 with a right foot injury.
Women's top seed Serena Williams also reached the last eight after a 7-5 6-3 victory over Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
The orange-clad American, who whitewashed Austria's Barbara Schett 6-0 6-0 in the third round, wore down her stubborn opponent, the 16th seed, after a slowish start.
"I just wasn't hitting the shots the way I was the other day. I was just a little off. But there's no need to worry," said Williams.
She next faces Amelie Mauresmo, the French fifth seed who beat Spain's Magui Serna 6-1 6-2. Mauresmo beat Serena for the first time earlier this month at the Rome Masters.
Birthday girl Justine Henin-Hardenne fought her way into the quarter-finals with a well-earned 6-3 2-6 6-2 win over Patty Schnyder. A former top 10 player, Schnyder took a set off the Belgian for the first time in the tournament but in the end was powerless to prevent her marching through on the day she turned 21.
Henin-Hardenne, a semi-finalist here in 2001, will next face eighth seed Chanda Rubin who beat Hungary's Petra Mandula 4-6 6-2 7-5. The 1998 champion Carlos Moya advanced smoothly by beating Czech Jiri Novak 7-5 6-3 6-2 in some style.
He will meet Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, who ousted 11th-seeded German Rainer Schuettler 6-3 6-3 7-5.