Americans dominate Australian Open

Steve Wilstein

Sunday, Jan. 23, 2000 | 9:22 a.m.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Americans dominated the Australian Open on Sunday.

Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and a surprising Chris Woodruff reached the men's quarterfinals while Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati made the women's quarters.

Agassi's cunning and consistency overwhelmed Mark Philippoussis' brute power so thoroughly that the frustrated Australian smashed his racket into the shape of a gnarled zucchini.

In long rallies that perfectly suited his style, the top-seeded Agassi repeatedly painted Philippoussis into a corner then put him away to craft a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 victory and reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Sampras cruised through the first two sets, then overcame a complacent third set to beat Slava Dosedel 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 and set up a quarterfinal match against Woodruff, who upset No. 11 Tim Henman 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Woodruff, a 27-year-old former NCAA champion who had never gone beyond the third round in a major, ended 1999 ranked No. 51, a leap from No. 1,342 the previous year. It was the biggest jump on the ATP Tour rankings last year. In 1998, he played only one tournament after sustaining a left knee injury in December 1997 while kicking field goals with Richey Reneberg. At the time of the injury, Woodruff was ranked No. 30.

Agassi patiently absorbed Philippoussis' 25 aces and waited for chances to attack. Agassi broke Philippoussis' serve only once in the first set, and that was enough. In the second set, neither player yielded on serve, producing a tie-breaker of high drama.

After losing his opening service, Philippoussis swept the next four points, the last with his 18th ace, to put himself in position to tie the match. But Agassi calmly kept up the pressure from the baseline and won the next six points to take the set and spark a moment of rage from Philippoussis.

The 6-foot-4 Australian bellowed in disgust and smacked his racket hard against the court, then kicked the misshapen weapon away.

"I had to let some frustration out or else I'd kill someone. Better to do it with the racket," Philippoussis said.

Said Agassi: "I'm was just thinking I'm glad I'm not the racket."

Philippoussis regained his composure enough to win the third set when he broke Agassi twice, but was helpless as Agassi again drew him into rally mode in the fourth.

Agassi served just eight aces in the match, but committed only 25 unforced errors to Philippoussis' 55.

Next up for Agassi is Morocco's Hiram Arazi, a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victor over Nicolas Escude.

Capriati, cracking winners with the power and control of her golden teen years, surged to her first Grand Slam quarterfinals since 1993.

Capriati won 20 of the last 22 points in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Patty Schnyder, who knocked off last year's runner-up, Amelie Mauresmo, in the second round.

If Capriati gets past Ai Sugiyama, a 7-5, 6-4 victor over 1995 champion and No. 4 seed Mary Pierce, looming as a likely semifinal foe is Davenport, who beat Anna Kournikova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarters.

Davenport's quarterfinal opponent will be No. 9 Julie Halard-Decugis, who advanced when Jana Kandarr pulled out because of a strained hamstring in her left leg.

After starting the tournament ranked No. 21, the 23-year-old Capriati is guaranteed at least a No. 17 ranking.

Capriati, who finished 1998 ranked No. 101, had been as high as No. 6 in 1991 and 1992, when she won the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. She dropped off the tour for several years, amid much-publicized problems, after three quarterfinal finishes in major tournaments and a first-round loss in the U.S. Open in 1993.

"I finally got past that fourth-round mark that has been stopping me," said Capriati, who lost in that round in the French and U.S. Opens last year. "I feel confident. I'm a lot stronger physically (than in 1993), I'm in better shape, and I have more variety.

"Today I was really put to a test. It's not easy to play somebody like that. I think that's the best I've played so far."

If she isn't fully back to where she was in her good old days, Capriati is close. She's serving consistently at close to 110 mph, ripping returns cleanly, and pounding groundstrokes close to the lines with confidence.

Against the No. 29-ranked Schnyder, Capriati simply wore her down in the third set. Serving at 1-1, Capriati fought off two break-points to start a run of 12 straight points, including a break of Schnyder's serve at love.

Capriati then yielded a couple of points while breaking Schnyder again, and closed out the match at love with an overhead, a brutally hard forehand winner and two errors by Schnyder.

"She just rolled over the top of me," Schnyder said. "She was hitting the ball so hard and deep and making me run. At the end she was just hitting winners everywhere.

"She's been a great player. She can beat anybody."

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