Sampras stays on course for fifth title

The top-ranked player in the world improved to 5-0 lifetime against Tillstrom, winning 14 of the 15 sets they have played. Tillstrom took one set from Sampras on clay at the 1994 French Open.

“For the most part I played the way I wanted to play,” Sampras said. “I came in. I was aggressive, I was chipping and charging. The court is playing pretty quick out there; I took advantage of that.”

Sampras had some trouble with his first serve, connecting on just 49 percent for the match. But he did manage to fire 14 aces, and when he got his firstserve in, he was lethal, winning 91 percent of the points.

Sampras is seeking his fifth US open title, which would tie fellow American Jimmy Connors’ modern-day record. A victory here also would tie former Australian star Roy Emerson’s mark of 12 career Grand Slam titles.

Sampras is 151-26 in Grand Slam matches to lead all active players and his 50-6 record at the Open is the best among active players.

Rafter, the third-seeded Australian and defending champion, demolished qualifier David Nainkin of South Africa, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in just 66 minutes.Rafter used his aggressive serve-and-volley attack to dominate Nainkin. He won 44 of 52 points at the net and Nainkin contributed to his own demise with 23 unforced errors to go along with just eight winners. Rafter had 28 winners and just seven unforced errors.

In other third-round action today, sixth seed Greg Rusedski of Britain blew a two sets-to-one lead and was upset by Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 4-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Rusedski had rallied from2-1 deficits in his first two matches.

Ninth seed Karol Kucera of Slovakia defeated Adrian Voinea of Romania, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 and 12th seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden stormed past Fabrice Santoro of France, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 and 18-year-old Marat Safin of Russia ousted Thomas Muster of Austria, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, in a matchup between unseeded players.

In women’s third-round play, routs were the order of the day as all but one match were one-sided affairs. Second seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States, in search of her first Grand Slam singles title and the No 1 ranking, routed Virginia Ruano-Pascual of Spain, 6-2,6-1.

No 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain blitzed Sarah Pitkowski of France, 6-2, 6-3, and fifth seed Venus Williams of the United States advanced when Larisa Neiland of Latvia retired with a leg injury trailing, 5-0, in the opening set.

Williams, who lost to Martina Hingis in last year’s final, won five games in just 13 minutes and Neiland managed only six points overall.

Also, seventh seedConchita Martinez of Spain defeated Lisa Raymond of the United States, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 10th seed Nathalie Tauziat of France routed Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-1, 12th seed Mary Pierce of France blasted her way past Laura Golarsa of Italy, 6-1, 6-0, number 13 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa rallied past Barbara Schett of Austia, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3; and 15th seed Anna Kournikova of Russia dumped Silvia Farina of Italy, 6-4, 6-1.

Indian duo advances

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced with a second round straight-sets victory over Karsten Braasch (Germany) and Marcos Ondruska of South Africa in the US Open tennis championships here.

The fourth seeded Indian pair demolished Braasch and Ondruska 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the third round last night.

Bhupathi, paired with Croatian Mirjana Lucic beat Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) and Menno Oosting (Netherlands) 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the mixed doubles yesterday.

RESULTS

Men (third round): 8-Andre Agassi (US) beat DavideSanguinetti (Italy) 6-2 6-3 6-0; 3-Patrick Rafter (Aus) bt David Nainkin (Rsa) 6-1 6-1 6-1; 14-Goran Ivanisevic (Cro) bt Paul Haarhuis (Ned) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-4; 12-Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Fabrice Santoro (Ita) 6-3 6-1 6-2; 9-Karol Kucera (Svk) bt Adrian Voinea (Rom) 7-5 6-3 6-2; Jan Siemerink (Ned) bt 6-Greg Rusedski (GBR) 4-6 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4; 1-Pete Sampras (US) bt Mikael Tillstrom (Swe) 6-2 6-3 6-1; Marat Safin (Russia) beat Thomas Muster (Austria) 6-4 6-4 1-6 6-3; 13-Tim Henman bt Michael Kohlmann 6-3 7-5 1-6 6-4.

Women (third round): 10-Nathalie Tauziat (France) beat Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) 6-1 6-1; 4-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain) beat Sarah Pitkowski (France) 6-2 6-3; 13-Amanda Coetzer (Rsa) bt Barbara Schett (Aut) 3-6 6-0 6-3; 5-Venus Williams (US) bt Larissa Neiland (Lat) 5-0 ret; 2-Lindsay Davenport (US) bt Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) 6-2 6-1; 15-Anna Kournikova (Rus) bt Silvia Farina (Ita) 6-4 6-1; 10-Mary Pierce (Fra) bt Laura Golarsa (Ita) 6-1 6-0; 7-Conchita Martinez (Spa) bt LisaRaymond (US) 6-3 3-6 6-2.