Andre Agassi issued a clear statement of intent to win his fifth Australian Open title with an overpowering victory in the third round on Friday.
The American fourth seed dismantled the 96th-ranked former finalist Thomas Enqvist of Sweden winning 6-0, 6-3, 6-3 in 89 minutes. He will now play Thailand’s 13th-seed Paradorn Srichaphan in the fourth round on Sunday.
The victory stretched his unbeaten run at the Australian Open to 24 matches.
Agassi, the oldest man in the tournament at 33, has now reached the round of 16 for the eighth straight time at the year’s first Grand Slam.
He hasn’t been beaten here since losing to compatriot Vince Spadea in the fourth round of the 1999 tournament.
The world’s top-three ranked players, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero, along with Australian Lleyton Hewitt may loom on the horizon, but it will take a special performance to stop Agassi judged on his form.
Next up is 11th-seeded Paradorn, who played near-perfect tennis to wipe away former world number one Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes with a dazzling array of groundstrokes.
Paradorn beat Agassi in their only meeting in straight sets in the second round of 2002 Wimbledon, but Agassi rules the patch in Melbourne with four titles in seven visits.
”It will be great to play him in the next round,” 24-year-old Paradorn said. ”I love to play bigger players and he’s the one who’s really great on court and off the court. So it’s nice to play him, learning the best tennis from him.”
Agassi indicated giving the pride of Asian tennis a tougher time this weekend than at Wimbledon two years ago.
”On that day he was too good for me. My hope is to go out there the day after tomorrow and let him know I can play better than that,” he said.
Paradorn said he felt in the zone in his match with the 19th seed. He broke Kuerten’s serve five times and clocked a fastest serve at 200kph.
”I felt really good out there and I felt like I was really playing well, moving well and hitting the ball well, holding my serve quite well,” he said.
Russian Marat Safin gave his higher-ranked rivals something to think about with a fighting five-set victory over American Todd Martin.
Safin, a finalist here two years ago and in his first Grand Slam tournament for a year after an injury-ruined 2003, reeled in the 1994 finalist to win 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 in three hours and 25 minutes.
His reward is a round of 16 meeting with another American James Blake on Sunday.
A left wrist injury restricted the 23-year-old to just 13 tournaments last year and Safin is working his way back to where he was once considered one of the most dynamic stars of men’s tennis.
That might be materialising quicker than expected with a matured performance in overhauling the veteran Martin, in his 16th and probably last year on the circuit.
”It’s quite impressive, actually. I didn’t expect that I would win so many matches straightaway,” he said. ”For me, it’s really good. I’m really satisfied with myself.”
Blake says he has thrown caution to the wind and equalled his best performance in a Grand Slam event by sweeping into the fourth round.
The world number 39, took just one hour and 15 minutes to coast past French journeyman Olivier Patience 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 and to emulate his achievement in reaching the last 16 of this tournament.
Blake said he had rediscovered his best form by focusing on his own game rather than worrying about his opponents.
”I have a lot of confidence now in just playing my game as opposed to trying to adjust to other players,” Blake said. — Sapa-AFP