Tennis: US Open

Flamboyant New Yorker James Blake came through a tough test against Sargis Sargsian at Flushing Meadows.


Blake, who is unseeded at the event, prevailed in four tough sets against the dangerous Armenian.

Blake was into his stride from the outset and took the opening two sets with relative ease.

Yet Sargsian came roaring back to win the next 6-4, and looked to have finally found his range in the fourth.

The pair produced some fabulous exchanges to entertain the largely pro-Blake New York crowd, but could not be separated as the set moved into a tie-break.

Still the pair traded shots and points at will before Blake broke crucially at 6-6 and eventually closed out 6-3 6-4 4-6 7-6 (8-6).

Andre Agassi overpowered Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden to move into the third round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows with a 7-6 (7/1) 6-1 6-4 victory.

While many of his peers are retiring, Agassi, the 2003 Australian Open champion, hardly seems to be slowing down as he aims for a ninth Grand Slam title, including a third here.

The 33-year-old top seed, playing in his 17th consecutive US Open, needed just one hour 53 minutes to defeat the 22-year-old left-hander after taking only 86 minutes to beat Spain's Alex Corretja on Monday.

Jennifer Capriati solved a puzzling opponent to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.

The sixth-seeded American overcame France's Emilie Loit 6-2 2-6 6-2.

Dementieva defeated American Amy Frazier 7-6 (7/1) 7-6 (7/3).

Second seed and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium had a much easier time advancing to the fourth round, dispatching Saori Obata of Japan 6-1 6-2.

Henin-Hardenne, who is tied for the WTA Tour lead with six titles, will face unseeded Russian Dinara Safina, who defeated Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg 6-4 7-5.

Anastasia Myskina of Russia got past Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 2-6 6-4 6-3; number 29 Francesca Schiavone of Italy topped Tina Pisnik of Slovenia 7-5 7-6 (11/9); number 15 seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat Australian Nicole Pratt 6-4 6-3; and two-time Grand Slam winner Mary Pierce of France posted a 6-4 6-1 victory over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe to reach the fourth round for the sixth time.

Andre Agassi and number 28 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was suspended after two lengthy rain delays.

Agassi won the first set 6-3 and Kafelnikov broke to start the second before showers interrupted play for 80 minutes.

Agassi won the first point of the second game of the second set before the rain returned. Officials decided the match would not continue that night.

Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand dispatched lucky loser Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3 6-4,6-3.

Sixth seed and 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia took a 6-1 3-0 lead over Radek Stepanek before the Czech retired due to a lower back injury. Hewitt will square off with Srichaphan.

French Open champion and third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain eliminated number 33 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-5 7-5 6-1, and fifth seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina dismissed Gregory Carraz of France 7-5 6-1 7-5.

Number 15 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile was not as fortunate, falling to unseeded American Taylor Dent 7-6 (11/9) 6-7 (3/7) 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.

Todd Martin outlasted fellow American Robby Ginepri 6-7 (2/7) 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 6-4 to advance to face Ferrero.

Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman outlasted Karol Kucera of Slovakia 6-4 4-6 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 6-4, in a match up of former top-10 players.

Justine Henin-Hardenne and Jennifer Capriati emerged from a long and frustrating day as quarter-finalists at the soggy US Open.

With rain falling intermittently during the day and night sessions, Henin-Hardenne took the court late on Monday evening and dumped unseeded Dinara Safina of Russia 6-0 6-3.

Capriati defeated 11th seed Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-2 7-5 in a match interrupted several times by rain.

Henin-Hardenne, the reigning French Open champion, awaits the winner of the match between seventh seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia and Mary Pierce of France.

Myskina and Pierce began shortly after 11pm (4am) and the Russian led 4-2 in the first set before rain halted play for the final time.

The inclement weather put top seed Andre Agassi, who faces fellow American Taylor Dent, in a poor position.

Agassi's third-round match with Yevgeny Kafelnikov started on Saturday but was postponed by rain to Sunday, when he completed a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory.

Agassi, who has yet to drop a set in three matches, was to play on consecutive days but now gets a day off since his meeting with Dent was postponed until Tuesday.

The battle between fifth seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, with the winner playing Agassi or Dent, also was postponed, as were the other men's fourth-round matches.

On Tuesday, sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australian will face 11th seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, who is playing well and won the tune-up event on Long Island.

Hewitt, the 2001 champion, has reached the semi-finals each of the last three years.

Spanish third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero will meet veteran American Todd Martin.

In addition to the men's fourth-round matches, all doubles, mixed doubles and juniors' matches were postponed until Tuesday.

matches were rained out again today. when are these guys gonna realize it's just gonna keep raining? there's about a million tennis bubbles in the new york city area they aught to just play inside of them, or run down to the Home Depot and get some tarps and 4x4 posts and erect a roof over the court.

Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Kim Clijsters in a one-sided US Open final to claim her second Grand Slam title of the year.

Henin-Hardenne, who already had the French Open crown in the bag, triumphed 7-5 6-1 and was a comprehensive winner on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Once again, world number one Clijsters failed on the big stage, producing too many errors throughout the match.

With Henin-Hardenne having endured a three-hour semi-final against Jennifer Capriati on Friday night - a match that ended with her being put on a drip due to dehydration - Clijsters began as the favourite but could not cope with Henin-Hardenne's accuracy.

Andy Roddick set up a US Open final against Juan Carlos Ferrero after fighting back from match point down to beat David Nalbandian.

After the partisan crowd had seen their hero Andre Agassi beaten by Ferrero, Roddick kept American interest alive with a thrilling 6-7 (7/4) 3-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-1 6-3 win.


Roddick, seeded four, lit up Flushing Meadows during a three-and-a-half hour tussle.

He looked down and out after losing the first two sets.