Agassi maintains a clean slate

Agassi maintains a clean slate
Agencies

San Jose, March 3: Australian Open champion Andre Agassi remained unbeaten in 2001 and swept into the semi-finals at the Sybase Open with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sargis Sargsian of Armenia.

Agassi routed his friend and occasional training partner to improve to 10-0 this season. He will play sixth-seeded countryman Jan-Michael Gambill in the semi-finals.

Agassi, the top seed, is 34-4 lifetime at this event. The 30-year-old had to withdraw last year due to a back injury but has reached the quarter-finals in eight of his previous nine appearances. He won this event in 1990, 1993, 1995 and 1998.

Gambill rolled over Spain’s Juan Balcells 6-2, 6-0 to reach his first semi-final of the season. He served 14 aces against Balcells and will try to continue his strong serving against Agassi.

Davenport, Capriati win
Scottsdale: Lindsay Davenport will have a chance to avenge her loss to Jennifer Capriati at the Australian Open.

The two Americans took different paths in setting up a semi-final showdown at the state farm tennis classic.

Davenport, the top seed, shook off a rocky start against fellow American Lisa Raymond and rallied for a 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over the seventh seed. She improved to 9-0 lifetime against Raymond.

Capriati, the third seed, rolled to her third straight semi-final by dumping qualifier Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes.

In January, Capriati defeated Davenport in the Australian Open semifinals and went on to down top-ranked Martina Hingis in the final for her first Grand Slam title.

Second seed Monica Seles of the US continued her bid for a second straight singles title with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Magui Serna. On Sunday, Seles defeated Capriati in the final at the IGA US indoors in Oklahoma City.

Eighth seed Meghann Shaughnessy became the third American to reach the semifinals by upsetting fifth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-2, 6-4.

Safin, Ferrero in final
Dubai: Top-seed and world No. 2 Marat Safin of Russia, fought back from a set down and an apparent pulled muscle to defeat Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to reach the final of the $1 million Dubai Open. Safin, the US Open champion, meets seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the final, worth $167,000 to the winner. Ferrero, the losing finalist last year, saved three match points before defeating Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in two hours, nine minutes.

Kuerten reaches semis
Acapulco: Top-ranked Gustavo Kuerten outlasted fellow Brazilian Fernando Melingeni 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 3-2 (ret) in a hard-fought match to advance to the semi-finals of the Mexican Open, which was forced by rain to postpone some matches.Melingeni, a wildcard entry in the tournament, surprised Kuerten, ATP’s top-ranked player, by taking the first set in the tie-breaker. He dominated going into the second set as well, breaking Kuerten’s serve in the third game.

But suddenly he tired, committing three double-faults in the sixth game and then watching Kuerten deliver two aces in the following one. Kuerten won five games in a row and took the second set 6-3. In the third set, Melingeni fell apart, stepping out with a cramp in his lower back during game 2. He returned to the court but never recovered, and retired after five games.