Agassi pulls out of Monte Carlo Masters

Agassi pulls out of Monte Carlo Masters

MONTE CARLO (Agencies): World number one Andre Agassi on
Friday became the latest top name to drop out of the injury-hit
Monte Carlo Masters tournament.

Fellow Americans Pete Sampras and Todd Martin and Australians
Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter had already pulled out of the
event, which is traditionally seen as the first warm-up for the
French Open Championships at Roland Garros in Paris.

Agassi had been in doubt since pulling out of a tournament in
Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday night, when he suffered an injury
to his right hamstring and retired after losing the first set of
a second round match 6-4 to Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic.

The injury is the same one Agassi suffered in similar damp
conditions in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1999.

And his absence from next week's US$2,700,000 event casts some
doubt over whether the U.S. star will be fit enough to try to
retain his French Open title.

Rafter, Hewitt and Martin all provided medical certificates,
while Sampras decided against competing in the first tournament
of the clay season, organizers confirmed Thursday.

Despite the raft of injuries seven of the world's top 10
players will be present in Monte Carlo, compared with just five
last year.

Sampras released a statement late Friday through the ATP Tour
regarding his absence from the tournament.

"In Miami, I said that I was not planning to play the Tennis
Masters Series-Monte Carlo event this year. I came to that
conclusion because, given my participation in Indian Wells, Miami
and Davis Cup last week indoors in Los Angeles, I did not feel I
could be prepared to play up to my own expectations on clay in
Monte Carlo," said the American.

"During my match against Slava Dosedel in Davis Cup this past
Sunday, I injured my thigh. The next day, I went to my doctor,
who performed a MRI which showed that I had torn my quadriceps.
So, whether I had planned to play or not, I could not at this
point physically compete in Monte Carlo."

Clay is the one surface where Sampras has traditionally
struggled and the French Open remains the Grand Slam he has never
won.

Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Chile's Marcelo Rios and Spanish
pair Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja are now the leading Monaco
entries while Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi, Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman
and France's Cyril Saulnier have all won wild card entries.

In Duluth, Georgia, two-time champion Michael Chang overcame a
rocky first set to beat Chris Woodruff 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 and reach
the semifinals of the $350,000 Galleryfurniture.com Tennis
Challenge.

Chang, the fourth seed, next plays eighth-seeded Andrew Ilie,
who beat Stefan Koubek 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in another quarterfinals
Friday. Koubek won the clay-court event as a qualifier last year,
but was hampered Friday by a blister on his left foot.

On the other half of the draw, seventh-seeded Jeff Tarango
defeated Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, and
Jason Stoltenberg needed just 56 minutes to oust Nicolas Massu of
Chile, 6-1, 6-2.

"I have a blister on the bottom of my left foot that I felt
last week already and that opened up in my last match," Koubek
said. "I played maybe 30 to 40 percent of my tennis. It was very
tough, but I tried to come up with good shots and fight."

Tarango had lost six of seven first-round matches heading into
this tournament, but continued his week's strong showing in the
wet, chilly conditions.

In Oeiras, Portugal, Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev powered into
the semifinals of the Estoril Open with an authoritative 6-2, 6-3
victory Friday over Britain's Tim Henman.

Medvedev, the defeated finalist in last year's French Open,
will meet Spaniard Carlos Moya who rallied to beat Bohdan
Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Medvedev, who won here in 1993 and is currently ranked 33rd,
comprehensively outplayed Henman, breaking the No. 4 seed's
service twice to take the first set and racing to a 4-0 lead in
the second before cruising to victory.

Moya's victory continued his return to form following a
recurrent back injury. In the second round, the Spaniard ousted
No. 2 seed Magnus Norman.

Unseeded at Estoril and currently ranked 46th in the world,
Moya retired from the Australian Open in January with the same
injury that forced him to withdraw from last year's U.S. Open.

Another unseeded Spaniard, Francisco Clavet, who beat top seed
Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the opening round, also made the semifinals
by overcoming No. 8 seed Nicolas Escude of France 6-3, 6-2.

Clavet will face No. 3 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, beat back
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Women

In the women's quarterfinals, top seed Anke Huber of Germany
advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Spaniard Cristina
Torrens-Valero but No. 7 seed Rita Kuti Kis of Hungary exited
after a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 defeat against Italian Tathiana Garbin.
Garbin meets Huber in Saturday's semifinals.

No. 2 seed Nathalie Dechy of France advanced, beating Spaniard
Angeles Montolio 6-3, 6-4.

Dechy will take on fifth-seeded Italian Silvina Farina, who
overcame Switzerland's Miroslava Vavrinec 6-3, 6-2.

In Amelia Island, Florida, rain played havoc with the $535,000
WTA Tour event here Saturday for the second straight day Friday
as just three matches began and not one was completed.

Tournament officials hope to complete the third round and
quarterfinals on Saturday, weather permitting.

Before play was called off, Australian Jelena Dokic and
Austria's Barbara Schett easily won the opening sets of their
matches.

Dokic led fourth seed and 1995 winner Conchita Martinez of
Spain, 6-1, while Schett took the first set from American Chanda
Rubin 6-0.

Corina Morariu led third-seeded Monica Seles 3-2 in a battle
of Americans.

Five third-round matches were postponed Thursday.

Two of the tournament's top eight seeds -- number seven Anna
Kournikova of Russia and number six Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario of
Spain -- and unseeded Paola Suarez of Argentina were able to
advance before the rain hit on Thursday.

Kournikova plays Suarez in the quarterfinals, while Sanchez
awaits the winner of Morariu-Seles.

In other third-round matches still to come, top-seeded Mary
Pierce of France opposes Silvija Talaja of Croatia, with the
winner to get either Switzerland's Patty Schnyder or Elena
Likhovtseva of Russia.

Both of those matches were postponed for the second straight
day on Friday.