Lapentti crushes Hrbaty
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Barcelona, April 28: Third-seed Nicolas Lapentti played almost flawlessly in defeating Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-2 6-2 on Friday, advancing to the Seat-Godo Barcelona Open tennis tournament quarter-finals.

It was his second strong appearance for the Ecuadorean who beat defending champion Felix Mantilla in straight sets on Friday. Hrbaty, who reached the final at last weeks's Monte Carlo Open, was unable to overpower Lapentti, who impressed with his speed and strength.

``I was moving well and getting everything back to him with strong returns,'' said Lapentti, who will face Russian Marat Safin in the quarter-finals of the $ 1 million event on Saturday. Safin beat Gaston Gaudio from Argentina 6-4 4-6 6-4.

``Everything was working for me today. I am in one of the best moments of my career and I feel very confident,'' Lapentti said.

Elsewhere, Chilean Marcelo Rios, the No 4 seed, battled past Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra 7-6 (3) 7-5. Rios, who had a surgery on both legs last November, said he was tired but feeling well.

Rios also had harsh criticism for Yevgeny Kafelnikov's behavior on Thursday when the Russian arrived in his private plane just in time with his match with Spain's Carlos Moya.

Rios, ranked 68th by the ATP Tour, will face Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.