Thomas Enqvist of Sweden upset seventh-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian men’s hard-court tennis championships.
Enqvist, formerly ranked fourth, has slipped to 72 after a series of injuries. But he appeared fit and relaxed at Memorial Drive on Wednesday.
”My game is a very aggressive kind of baseline tennis,” said Enqvist (30). ”But I also mixed up the shots, so they don’t really know what is coming. I think I did that well.”
Neither player was able to hold serve at the beginning of the first set. But Enqvist, who won this tournament in 1999, took charge at 2-2 with decisive and powerful shots that left Mayer flat-footed.
Enqvist next plays the winner of Wednesday night’s second-round match between second-seeded Joachim Johansson of Sweden and Xavier Malisse of Belgium.
In other matches on Wednesday, third-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany beat Cyril Saulnier of France 6-4, 6-3 and Belgium’s Olivier Rochus defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3.
Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia plays Agustin Calleri of Argentina in a second-round match on Thursday. — Sapa-AP