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Updated: 2004-08-06 14:21
Roddick, Agassi reach quarters at Cincinnati tennis 

在辛辛那提网球赛周四进行的男单比赛中,卫冕冠军罗迪克以6-2和6-3异常轻松地战胜了泰国选手斯里查潘,闯入男单8强。而曾两次获得本项赛事冠军的34岁老将阿加西,在战胜了一名阿根廷选手后也顺利进入了8强。

 

Andy Roddick serves against Paradorn Srichaphan during the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati. (Agencies)

Defending champion Andy Roddick slipped into the quarter-finals of the 2.4 million-dollar ATP Cincinnati tournament with a surprisingly easy 6-2, 6-3 win over Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan.

"I felt I played okay, but I just thought Paradorn didn't play as well as he's capable of," said the second-seeded Roddick.

"He definitely had one of those off days. He had a lot of errors."

The 15th-seeded Srichaphan was disappointed with his performance in the 54-minute match.

"I had a hard time out there," said Paradorn, who has now lost five of six career meetings with Roddick.

"When I lost my serve for the first time in the match, I lost my confidence."

Roddick, who has now won 24 of his last 26 matches since June, served at his usual high standard, posting 12 aces, winning 24 of 27 of his first serve points and 12 of 14 of his second serve points, and never offered Paradorn a break-point opportunity.

"I feel like I'm playing well," said Roddick, who since June has won the Queens Club tournament, reached the Wimbledon final, won Indianapolis, and lost last weeks Toronto final to Roger Federer.

"I've been winning matches the last three weeks, so there is something there. I think there is some room for improvement."

Agassi, a two-time former champion here, left little doubt that at 34-years-old he's still able to trounce opponents 10 years his junior when he sent Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina packing in a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Agassi was in control from the outset of his 62-minute match.

"There are times when you play faster than others," Agassi said. "It sort of depends on the nature of the match.

"Tonight I felt real good. It's the first match in a long time where I felt that comfortable with my game."

Agassi broke Chelas serve in the third and ninth games of the first set and the eighth game of the second set.

If Agassi can get by Carlos Moya in the quarter-finals he will reach his first semi-final since Indian Wells in March.

Roddick will face wildcard recipient Tommy Haas of Germany in the quarter-finals. Haas moved into the quarter-finals after securing a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Robin Soderling of Sweden.

Both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski ceased to wave the British flag here when they went out in third round matches on Thursday.

The fifth-seeded Henman lost a lethargic 6-1, 6-4 encounter against Lleyton Hewitt, adding to the frustration of his never being able to beat the Australian in eight career attempts.

The Canadian-born Rusedski, who came through the qualifying tournament, lost a heartbreaking 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) encounter to Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

Frenchman Fabrice Santoro reached his second consecutive quarter-final with an impressive 6-0, 6-3 third round win over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden earlier in the day.

"For me, the second set is more what I was expecting than the way we played the first because six-love is not something you wait for," Santoro said.

"If it comes, its great. But I'm not used to winning a set six-love on the tour."

The 42nd-ranked Santoro reached the quarter-finals in Toronto last week where he fell to eventual winner Roger Federer.

"Winning a few matches last week helped my confidence," Santoro said.

Beating the 38th-ranked Bjorkman was a novel experience for Santoro, who had only won one set in three previous matches against the Swede.

Serving well was the key to Santoros victory - he won 19 of 21 points on his first serve and nine of 11 points on his second serve in the match.

Santoro will try to earn his first victory in four matches against Robredo in the quarter-finals.

Hewitt will play 14th-seeded Marat Safin, who won a 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 third round match against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. 

(Agencies)

Vocabulary:
 

slip into : to get into easily(进入)

second-seeded: (被定为二号种子选手的)

ace: a point scored by a serve(直接得分的发球)

serve: to put (a ball or shuttlecock) in play, as in tennis, badminton(发球)

break-point: (破发点,网球中发球一方让对方获胜的发球机会)

trounce: to defeat decisively(痛击)

pack: to fold, roll, or combine into a bundle; wrap up(包装,收拾行李)

wildcard: (外卡,指赛会挑选直接进入本赛的机会)

 
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