Sampras comes back from the brink

INDIAN WELLS, MARCH 17: Pete Sampras, seeking an end to his desert dry spell, battled past Byron Black 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-...

INDIAN WELLS, MARCH 17: Pete Sampras, seeking an end to his desert dry spell, battled past Byron Black 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the 2.95 million tennis Masters series event, here on Thursday.

In the women8217;s, Lindsay Davenport secured a place in the women8217;s final with a 6-2 6-1 win over 18-year-old Russian Elena Dementieva.

In the final she will face either World No 1 and top seed Martina Hingis or French fifth seed Mary Pierce, who meet in the second semifinal.

After his three-set win over Wayne Ferreira on Wednesday, Sampras again struggled against Zimbabwean qualifier Black.

8220;I8217;m just trying to stay positive out there,8221; Sampras said after the match. 8220;I do struggle here, I have over the last couple of years. It8217;s not mental, it8217;s there. The conditions are pretty quick. You8217;ve just got to deal with it and be positive.8221;

Sampras appeared to be on the brink of joining a parade of upset victims, led by top seed Andre Agassi, when Black took a 0-40 lead on the American8217;s serve in the third game of the second set.

8220;Exorcise the desert demons, that8217;s my goal,8221; Sampras said of his thoughts at that point. 8220;Just try to stay positive. I still have the best serve-and-volley in the game, use that. Hopefully get a good rip at some forehands and hopefully get a break.8221;

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After two close calls, Sampras still seemed wary of his chances, despite the fact that only six of 16 seeds remained heading into the third round.

In the quarters, Sampras meets 10th-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Argentina8217;s Mariano Zabaleta.

Hicham Arazi also reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

He next faces eighth-seeded Ecuadoran Nicolas Lapentti, who defeated unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Escude 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 7-3. Lapentti and sixth-seeded Swede Magnus Norman are the only seeds left in the top half of the draw. Norman defeated France8217;s Sebastian Grosjean 6-3, 6-7 2-7, 6-4 to line up a clash with Alex Corretja.

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The Spaniard came back from a 0-4 first-set deficit to beat France8217;s Fabrice Santoro 7-6 8-6, 6-1.

Defending champion Mark Philippoussis encountered little resistance from Tommy Haas, beating the German 6-2 6-3.

In the quarter-finals, Philippoussis will face Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, who ousted 14th-seeded Spaniard Albert Costa 6-2 6-3.