STOCKHOLM, 29 October 2004 — Evergreen Andre Agassi continued his career-long stranglehold over fellow veteran Jonas Bjorkman yesterday when he beat the Swede 6-3, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals of the 632,750-euro Stockholm Open.
The pair last met in 1998 on clay in Munich, where Agassi earned his third win in the series. The American made it four straight in the Swede’s home court at the Kingligahallen.
Agassi’s last three victories against his rival have all come in straight sets.
The efficient win in front of a sold-out 5,000 crowd keeps the top seed in the chase for a spot in next month’s season-ending Masters Cup.
The 34-year-old Agassi currently stands eighth and needs top performances here and next week in Paris to clinch a spot in the eightman field.
Briton Tim Henman, the man he needs to displace, stayed in contention with a win in Basel over Wesley Moodie, remaining in seventh. Agassi’s victory denied fellow over-30 Bjorkman a place in his fifth quarterfinal in 12 appearances in the capital.
The hugely-popular Agassi, competing here for the first time since 1994, will face off today against Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who knocked out Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-2.
German fourth seed Tommy Haas took a third win this season over Kenneth Carlsen as he ousted the Dane 7-5, 7-5, adding to successes in Halle and Los Angeles.
Swedish teenager Michael Ryderstedt continued a purple patch after winning his first tour match this week, carrying on into the final eight with an upset of fifth seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
The 19-year-old left-hander began the season ranked 514th and has improved by nearly 300 places.
Henman Battles Into Basel Quarterfinals
British second seed Tim Henman came through an unexpectedly tough second round match with South Africa’s Wesley Moodie to reach the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors tournament yesterday.
Playing an opponent ranked 171st in the world, the British world No. 4 needed almost three hours to complete a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 win.
Moodie, demonstrating a similar style of serve and volley to Henman’s and outgunning his opponent by 24 aces to 11, gave the 2004 US and French Open semifinalist plenty to think about.
After the first two sets had gone with serve it looked as if the third would also end in a tiebreak.
But in the 36th game of the match, Henman found himself with three match points, converting the third to seal victory.
Though it took him longer than expected, yesterday’s triumph maintained Henman’s impressive record in Basel.
Argentine third seed and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio also made an early exit yesterday, losing 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to Austrian world No. 92 Stefan Koubek, a result that leaves Henman as the only seed left in his half of the draw.
Mauresmo Joins Zvonareva in Linz Quarterfinals
In Vienna, world No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo shrugged off a thigh strain to cruise into the last eight of the Linz Open with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Marta Domachowska yesterday.
The French top seed, who missed last week’s Zurich tournament because of the injury, had an average start against the 18-year-old Pole but upped her game in the second set with some confident ground strokes to destroy her opponent.
Mauresmo will play sixth seed Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinals after the Japanese player quickly disposed of Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-1.
Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva earlier outfought Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 7-6, 6-4 and next meets Serbia and Montenegro’s Jelena Jankovic, who beat Austria’s Barbara Schett 6-3, 6-1.
