SPORTS

Federer, Henin-Hardenne in quarters

By Matthew Cronin
March 17, 2004 18:03 IST

Top seeds Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne eased into the quarter-finals of the Pacific Life Open men's and women's events with straight set victories on Tuesday.

World number one Federer improved his 2004 record to 19-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over American Mardy Fish while Henin-Hardenne rallied from a break down in the second set to overcome talented Czech teenager Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4.

After her victory, Henin-Hardenne said that she learned a great deal from watching Federer play.

"I watch him a lot and I'm very impressed," said the Belgian, who is world number one and can boast an equally impressive 17-1 record this year.

"The confidence he has is amazing ... he is the best for sure."

Three other men's seeds were victorious, with number four Guillermo Coria, fifth seed Andre Agassi and 32nd seed Juan Ignacio Chela posting wins.

Argentina's Coria needed all his speed and skill to defeat 13th seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, while Agassi overcame a stiff test in the opening set to register a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Russia's Mikhail Youzhny.

Agassi had trouble reading Youzhny's deceptive one-handed backhand early in the first set, but regained control of the centre of the court and ran the Russian from side to side for the rest of the contest.

After battling past last year's champion Lleyton Hewitt on Monday, Chela ended Tommy Haas's run with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Federer had had trouble with Fish in the past, but on Tuesday, served bigger and volleyed with much more precision than his opponent.

The Swiss needed four set points to win the first set but finally broke Fish when the American sailed a forehand long.

Federer, who has lost only one of his last 25 matches dating back to the Tennis Masters Cup in November, then overwhelmed Fish from all angles of court in the second set.

"He's definitely the best player in the world and is obviously showing it," Fish said. "I'm ranked 19 and I didn't play that badly and he beat me four and one."

Third seed Lindsay Davenport continued her romp through the women's field, with a 6-1, 6-3 win over fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Russian fourth seed Anastasia Myskina crushed compatriot Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 but six-seeded Vera Zvonareva fell 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Nathalie Dechy of France.

Matthew Cronin
Source: REUTERS
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