Agassi stops French revelation

Results with seedings in prefix, pre-quarter-finals: 1-Andre Agassi US bt Nicolas Escude France 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; 2-Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia bt Lionel Roux France 6-1, 7-6 7-1; 3-Greg Rusedski Great Britain bt Dominik Hrbaty Slovakia 6-2, 6-2; Goran Ivanisevic Croatia bt Chris Woodruff US 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 7-5.

Corretja up

PALERMO: Spaniards Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, the two top seeds in the 350,000 ATP clay court event, advanced into the quarterfinals.

Corretja beat Juan Antonio Marin Costa Rica 7-6 7-3, 6-2 and Costa defeated Mariano Puerta Argentina 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Alberto Martin Spain upset countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-2.

Bjorkman survives

SHANGHAI: Fifth-seeded Jonas Bjorkman struggled for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 quarter-final win over Swedish compatriot Andreas Vinciguerra at the 350,000 Shanghai Open.

Bjorkman now meets top seed Marcelo Rios, who eliminated Australian Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 6-3. Sixth seed Michael Chang moved into the semis with a 6-3, 7-5 win over fourth seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill.

Davenport withdraws

FILDERSTADT: Anke Huber reached the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix and later learned she would have a free ride to the semifinals when World No 2 Lindsay Davenport announced she had to withdraw due to a wrist injury.

Huber won a place in the quarters of the 520,000 tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 over 17th-ranked Russian Elena Likhovtseva.

Sixth-seeded Austrian Barbara Schett defeated Russian qualifier Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-1 earned a quarterfinal match against Mary Pierce France.