RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, 14 September 2003 — Argentine Gaston Etlis caused a mild flutter by ousting Kenneth Carlsen in the quarterfinals of the $380,000 ATP tournament here on Friday as the other three remaining seeds advanced to the round of four.
Top-seeded German Rainer Schuettler blasted Paraguayan Ramon Delgado as Etlis found his touch late to quell No. 8 seed Dane Carlsen 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. The other two seeds to advance were No. 5 Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who beat American Vince Spadea 7-6 (7 0), 6-2 and No. 3 Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, who dispatched his compatriot Ricardo Mello 6-2, 6-2.
Sabau Upsets Seed
Sargsian in Bucharest
Unseeded Romanian Razvan Sabau upset third seed Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Romanian Open ATP tournament yesterday.
Bad weather washed out play at the tournament on Thursday and Friday, forcing organizers to reschedule the quarterfinals.
Sabau fought back after Sargsian, ranked 48th in the Champions’ Race, easily won the first set.
The unheralded Sabau became only the third Romanian to reach the Bucharest semifinals, after Andrei Pavel (1996 and 2002) and Adrian Voinea (1998).
Second seed Nicolas Massu of Chile had no problem beating another home player, Victor Hanescu, 6-4, 6-1. Spanish fourth seed David Sanchez beat number five Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the most balanced match, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Dutchman John Van Lottum was leading Spaniard Jose Acasuso 6-4 2-6 1-2 in the fourth quarterfinal when rain stopped play.
Top Seeds Reach
Bali Final
Top seeds Chanda Rubin and Elena Dementieva will face each other in the final of the Wismilak International in Bali after claiming straight sets victories over unseeded opponents yesterday.
American Rubin held off Saori Obata of Japan 6-2, 7-5 and second-seeded Russian Dementieva eased past Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-4, 6-3.
Rubin will be seeking her third title of the year, after winning Madrid on clay and Eastbourne on grass. Dementieva will be hoping to add to her first career title, won at Amelia Island in April.
Capriati Pulls Out
of Shanghai Polo Open
In Shanghai, a month after Serena Williams pulled out, the Polo Open was hit yesterday by another high-profile injury as top seed Jennifer Capriati pulled out. Williams had withdrawn a few days after her Aug. 1 knee surgery which is expected to keep her away from the game for at least the rest of the month, if not all season.
The former world No. 1 was replaced in the draw by Capriati, who has now announced she will not play in the Chinese commercial capital due to a shoulder injury.
