Barnstorming Agassi downs Thai ace

Melbourne - Defending champion Andre Agassi toughed out a first set before beating 13th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

The win extended his stretch to 25 wins at the season's first major, dating back to his championship triumph in 2000.

It also avenged a loss in the second round at Wimbledon in 2002, the only previous head-to-head with the Thai star.

"I came out here with a lot of respect for his firepower," Agassi said. "I had to make sure I was dictating play and not backing off -- it was good."

The defending champion saved five set points in the first, three on serve in the 10th game and another two in the 12th before forcing a tiebreaker with an ace.

He won four of the first five points in the tiebreaker to set up a winning lead and clinched it in 51 minutes when Paradorn's backhand return landed long.

The 33-year-old Agassi broke Paradorn in the eighth game of the second and again in the fifth game of the third set, just before his Thai rival rolled his left ankle and limped through the end of the match.

Agassi had eight fewer winners (31-39) but 16 fewer unforced errors (28-44). He won 112 points overall to 87 for Srichaphan.

He'll next meet the winner of the match between ninth-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France and Robby Ginepri, seeded 32nd.

Henin-Hardenne accounted for Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo.

Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne had to save a set point before advancing to the quarterfinals on a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo.

She set up a quarterfinal match with 2000 champion Lindsay Davenport, while fourth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo advanced to face 32nd-seeded Fabiola Zuluaga, the first Colombian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Davenport won the last eight points in her 6-1, 6-3 victory over 11th-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Earlier, Mauresmo was the first player to reach the quarterfinals, beating Australia's Alicia Molik 7-5, 7-5. Zuluaga beat Hungary's Aniko Kapros 6-4, 6-2.

After racing through the first set in 28 minutes, Henin-Hardenne started making uncharacteristic mistakes on her backhand and dropped serve to trail 1-3. She saved four break points in the seventh game, and saved a set point in the 10th game before breaking to level at 5-5.

Santangelo, ranked No. 129, held serve to force the tiebreaker. She fell behind 4-1, but rallied to tie it at 4 with a volley that had her skipping with delight back to the baseline.

But Henin-Hardenne regained control, ending the match with a forehand pass that just clipped the line. She finished with 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.

"I'm happy to be in the quarters -- it wasn't an easy match," she said.

"I won the first set pretty easily, with a lot of intensity, then, at 1-all in the second, the intensity came down a little and she just took her chances -- it was a big fight in the second set."

Henin-Hardenne edged Davenport in the fourth round here last year, rallying from a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set and overcoming cramps to win 7-5, 5-7, 9-7.

Mauresmo struggled to beat the 40th-ranked Molik after losing only six games in the first three rounds.

"Obviously she gave me a lot of trouble," Mauresmo said. "I just really wanted to go through this one and go to the quarters."

Mauresmo, a finalist in 1999, missed the tournament last year because of injuries and said she was bothered by back trouble against Molik, but didn't think it would upset her campaign.

"I'm going to go for treatment and make sure everything is OK for the quarterfinals," she said.

With the victory, Mauresmo is assured of breaking into the top three for the first time when the next WTA Tour rankings are released. Her career high was No. 4 in October 2002.

"I'll take it," she said. "But what I'm happy about is that it's because I'm winning matches rather than because some other players are struggling."

Davenport didn't give Zvonareva a chance to break her serve and converted on both her chances in the second set to finish in 47 minutes. Zvonareva made six of her 24 unforced errors in the last two games.

"It was such a fast match, it kind of surprised me. She helped me out with a few unforced errors in the beginning," Davenport said.

Since her last match against Davenport in Melbourne, Henin-Hardenne has improved her ranking to No. 1 and won her first two major titles.

"That was quite a match, and I'm looking forward to playing her again," Davenport said. "She's a much different player now: No. 1 in the world, two Grand Slams. But if I play like I did today and take some chances, who knows?

"Right now I'm feeling great and excited to be back in the quarters." -- CNN News

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