Agassi sets up quarters146; clash with Federer

Davenport then outslugged Venus Williams in a battle of the former champions to extend her winning streak to 21 matches.

Twice former champion Agassi, 34, trounced Armenian Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and now meets world No.1 Federer, who progressed without hitting a ball when Andrei Pavel, the 16th seed from Romania, pulled out with a back injury.

Federer, looking to become the first man since Sweden8217;s Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three grand slam titles in the same year, received an unexpected day off when Pavel pulled out with a herniated disc in his lower back.

Pavel, who suffered a similar injury at the Australian Open in 2003, felt the problem in the final set of his third-round match against Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea.

When Henman woke up with a stiff back 10 days ago, the Briton did not think he would be able to play his first-round tie.

But, after surviving five-set battles against Ivo Karlovic and Michal Tabara, Henman celebrated his 30th birthday with a gutsy 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 3-0 victory over Kiefer.

The Briton looked in trouble when he trailed by a set and 3-1 but stormed back to win 10 games in succession to lead by two sets to one.

Kiefer snatched the fourth set but Henman was on top in the decider when the German retired with a suspected tendon injury to his right wrist.

Henman will meet 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty for a place in the semi-finals after the Slovakian came back from two sets down to put out Belgian Olivier Rochus 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

Fifth seed Davenport, with four WTA Tour titles under her belt since her semi-final defeat by eventual champion Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in July, edged out Williams 7-5, 6-4 in a repeat of the 2000 U.S. Open final won by Venus.

Venus, seeded 11th, made 42 unforced errors before Davenport clinched victory on her fifth match point to reach the quarter-finals for the eighth year in succession.

Davenport will play Japan8217;s Shinobu Asagoe, the last unseeded player, who reached her first Grand Slam quarters with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over Greece8217;s Eleni Daniilidou.

Ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova became the second Russian in the last eight when she ended the run of twice former Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce, 7-6, 6-2.

Kuznetsova will meet the winner of the match between top seed and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, and another Russian, Nadia Petrova, the 14th seed. Reuters