Mark Philippoussis is through to the quarter-finals of the $A7.31 Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells, California, after trouncing Germany's Tommy Haas.

Defending champion Philippoussis hammered the German star 6-2, 6-3 in a third round match which Australians will hope is an indicator for their likely meeting in next month's Davis Cup second round tie in Adelaide.

The winner of the ATP Tour event in San Jose last month, 12th seed Philippoussis is playing his first tournament since withdrawing from a third round match in Memphis the following week because of inflammation in his left knee.

However he struck surprisingly little resistance from Haas.

"I was extremely happy the way I played today," said Philippoussis who now meets Dutchman Sjeng Schalken in the quarter-finals.

"I hit the ball clean on my groundstrokes. I think my serve wasn't there 100 percent, but groundstrokes have gotten better and better as my matches have progressed."

Meanwhile, Pete Sampras, seeking an end to his desert dry spell, battled past Byron Black 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Sampras won this tournament in 1994 and 1995, but had won just one match here in the previous two years.

After he scraped a three-set win over Wayne Ferreira yesterday, Sampras again struggled against Zimbabwean qualifier Black.

"I'm just trying to stay positive out there," Sampras said. "I do struggle here, I have over the last couple of years. It's not mental, it's there. The conditions are pretty quick. You've just got to deal with it and be positive."

After two close calls, Sampras still seemed wary of his chances, despite the fact that only six of 16 seeds remained heading into the third round.

"I'm still struggling a little bit with my range," Sampras said. "I'm getting through these matches, which is nice. I just hope I can play a little bit better, because each match gets more difficult."

In the quarters Sampras meets 10th-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta.

Hicham Arazi, who stunned world number one Agassi on Monday, also reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

He next faces eighth-seeded Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti, who defeated unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Escude 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Lapentti and sixth-seeded Swede Magnus Norman are the only seeds left in the top half of the draw. Norman defeated France's Sebastian Grosjean 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 to line up a clash with Alex Corretja.

The Spaniard, who ousted Pat Rafter on Tuesday, came back from a 0-4 first-set deficit to beat France's Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.

Tennis Australia

INDIAN WELLS, 16 March - Defending champion Mark Philippoussis has advanced to the quarterfinals of the US$2.95 million Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells, California with a routine victory over Tommy Haas on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Philippoussis conceded just five games in beating the unseeded German 62 63. He takes on another unseeded player, Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, for a spot in Saturday's semifinals.

Philippoussis, currently 17th on the ATP Champions Race, is playing in his first tournament since withdrawing from the third round in Memphis a month ago.

His win at Indian Wells last year was his first in a Masters Series event (then known as Mercedes Super 9s).

The victory over Haas augurs well for Australia's Davis Cup chances, as it prepares to take on the Germans on grass in Adelaide 7-9 April.

sportscentral
INDIAN WELLS, California, March 16 AAP-Reuters - Mark Philippoussis landed an early blow for Australia's Davis Cup team when he trounced Tommy Haas to reach the quarter-finals of the $A7.31 million Tennis Masters Series here today.

Defending champion Philippoussis hammered the German star 6-2 6-3 in a third round match which Australians will hope is an indicator for their likely meeting in next month's Davis Cup second round tie in Adelaide.

The winner of the ATP Tour event in San Jose last month, 12th seed Philippouss is playing his first tournament since withdrawing from a third round match in Memphis the following week because of inflammation in his left knee.

However he struck surprisingly little resistance from Haas.

"I was extremely happy the way I played today," said Philippoussis who now meets Dutchman Sjeng Schalken in the quarter-finals.

"I hit the ball clean on my groundstrokes. I think my serve wasn't there 100 percent, but groundstrokes have gotten better and better as my matches have progressed."

Schalken ousted 14th-seeded Spaniard Albert Costa 6-2, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Pete Sampras, seeking an end to his desert dry spell, battled past Byron Black 4-6 6-3 6-2.

Sampras won this tournament in 1994 and 1995, but had won just one match here in the previous two years. After he scraped a three-set win over Wayne Ferreira yesterday, Sampras again struggled against Zimbabwean qualifier Black.

"I'm just trying to stay positive out there," Sampras said. "I do struggle here, I have over the last couple of years. It's not mental, it's there. The conditions are pretty quick. You've just got to deal with it and be positive."

After two close calls, Sampras still seemed wary of his chances, despite the fact that only six of 16 seeds remained heading into the third round.

"I'm still struggling a little bit with my range," Sampras said. "I'm getting through these matches, which is nice. I just hope I can play a little bit better, because each match gets more difficult."

In the quarters Sampras meets 10th-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist, a 6-4 7-5 winner over Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta.

Hicham Arazi, who stunned world number one Agassi on Monday, also reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5 3-6 6-4 victory over qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

He next faces eighth-seeded Ecuadoran Nicolas Lapentti, who defeated unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Escude 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

Lapentti and sixth-seeded Swede Magnus Norman are the only seeds left in the top half of the draw. Norman defeated France's Sebastian Grosjean 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 to line up a clash with Alex Corretja.

The Spaniard, who ousted Pat Rafter on Tuesday, came back from a 0-4 first-set deficit to beat France's Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.