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.