U.S. OPEN NOTEBOOK
Highlight in quarters
BY ARTHUR STAPLE, STAFF WRITER; Jeff Williams
Newsday
September 5, 2004
Andre Agassi and Roger Federer both looked very strong in three-set
wins yesterday, inching closer to a quarterfinal that would be by
far the most anticipated men’s match of the tournament to date.
Agassi, the No. 6 seed, cruised past No. 25 Jiri Novak, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3,
to reach the final 16 for the 14th time in his 19 Open appearances. He
next faces marathon man Sargis Sargsian, and the 34-year-old Agassi
is smart enough not to look past anyone.
“I don’t really look ahead,” he said. “I know it’s a cliche. It’s a
great problem to worry about when it’s time to worry about it … I
felt like I turned a corner that I needed to turn going into the
second week.”
Federer dominated No. 31 Fabrice Santoro, 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), looking
more like the world’s No. 1 than in his previous two matches. He next
faces No. 16 Andrei Pavel. Unlike Agassi, Federer is already eyeing
the quarters, and for two good reasons. Federer has never been past
the fourth round in three previous Opens and Agassi waxed him in
three sets in the 2001 tournament. The two have split six meetings,
with Federer winning the last three.
“It seems with [Agassi] and [Lleyton] Hewitt, you always know that
you’re gonna be in a real big battle. It would be nice to play
[Agassi] here at the Open, get my revenge, because he got me badly
the one time.”
Sarge in charge
Sargis Sargsian is 31 and his biggest claim to fame in a lengthy
career is his frequent workouts with good friend Agassi. But the
Armenian reached the fourth round with a second consecutive incredible
performance last night.
Sargsian defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5),
a 4-hour, 41-minute match that followed his five-hour, nine-minute
match in his third- round win over Nicolas Massu. Sargsian saved two
match points last night to reach the fourth round for the first time.
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hrbaty
Dominik Hrbaty has had a Jekyll and Hyde year. He won three of the
first five tournaments he played in, then went through six months of
mostly first- and second-round losses.
In early August, he scored his biggest match win of the year, a
first-round victory over Federer, ending the top-ranked player’s
23-match winning streak.
Now he’s made it to the fourth round for the second time in his
career here, beating popular Paradorn Srichaphan yesterday, 7-6
(10-8), 6-3, 6-3.
– Jeff Williams