Kuerten, Agassi clear first hurdle

Kuerten, Agassi clear first hurdle
Agence France Presse

Miami, March 25: Top-seeded Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten needed three sets, Australian Open champ Andre Agassi just two, but both made it into the third round of the Tennis Masters Series here.

Kuerten, runner-up to Pete Sampras here last year, pulled himself together after losing a second-set tie-breaker to post a 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 victory over Moroccan Hicham Arazi on Saturday.

Agassi, the third-seed and fresh from victory in the year’s first elite Masters Series event in Indian Wells, California, last week, dispatched young compatriot Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-2. Agassi tied Pete Sampras for the most career Tennis Masters Series titles with 11 by defeating Sampras in Sunday’s Indian Wells final. Eighth-seeded Australian Patrick Rafter also had an easy time of it. He needed just 48 minutes to dispose of Bob Bryan 6-2, 6-1.

In the next round he’ll face Spain’s Francisco Clavet, who defeated compatriot Alberto Martin in three sets.

A second Australian, 16th-seeded Mark Philippoussis, also advanced, battling nearly two hours to subdue former French Open champion Michael Chang of the United States 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Germany’s David Prinosil stood his ground against big-serving Greg Rusedski, using a more than solid service return to oust the former US Open finalist from the second round. Prinosil, who ended 2000 ranked 37th in the world for his career-best year-end ranking, refused to be intimidated by Rusedski’s serve and was rewarded with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. The top three seeds in action on the women’s side on Saturday carried the US colours into the third round: second-seed Lindsay Davenport, Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati, and Indian Wells victor Serena Williams.

Davenport moved through when Czech Daja Bedanov retired with heat exhaustion while trailing 6-1, 4-1.

Two other women abandoned their matches.

Seventh-seed Elena Dementieva of Russia advanced to the third round as American Alexandra Stevenson retired in the second set due to a lower back injury with Dementieva was leading 6-2, 2-0.

Japan’s Ai Sugiyama retired citing a sprained wrist while trailing Lisa Raymond 6-1, 4-0. Serena Williams, who wrapped up the Indian Wells crown last Saturday despite a hostile crowd, followed her elder sister, Venus, into the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Bulgarian Pavlina Nola.

Prinosil beats Rusedski

MIAMI: DAVID Prinosil of Germany hardly broke a sweat on Saturday to beat Britain’s Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2 Saturday in the second round of the Ericsson Open Masters tournament.

The 43rd-ranked Rusedski was completely off his game and had trouble finding his normally lethal first serves. Prinosil was on song.

Rusedski had an opportunity to break Prinosil’s serve in the second game of the first set, but failed to take advantage. Prinosil broke Rusedski’s serve in the fifth and ninth games of the first set.

Behind 2-0 in the second set, Rusedski broke serve for the only time in the match in the third game. But he failed to get back in the match and allowed Prinosil to break his serve in the sixth and eighth games finally to put him out of his misery.