CINCINNATI, Ohio, Aug 9 AAP - Mark Philippoussis kept the Australian flag flying in the Masters Series men's hardcourt tennis tournament by scraping into the third round here today.

The 16th seed, who is the lone Australian after the first round exit of ninth seed Lleyton Hewitt and Andrew Ilie yesterday, overcame former world No.1 Marcelo Rios of Chile 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in their second round clash.

The Scud's win ended his Rios hoodoo - the Chilean had won four of their last five meetings.

Philippoussis next faces the winner between top seed American Andre Agassi and Spain's Fernando Vicente who play tonight.

After a number of seeds including Hewitt dropped out in the first round yesterday, the trend continued again this morning with No.3 Magnus Norman of Sweden upset by the Czech Republic's Slava Dosedel in the second round.

The Czech grinded out a 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3 win.

It was another major blow for the third seed, who is second behind Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten - the man he lost to in this year's French Open final - in the Champions points race.

A week ago, Norman went out in the first round of the Masters Series tournament in Toronto.

But there was still some good news for Sweden with Jonas Bjorkman continuing his giant killing run.

The former world No.4, who had never won back to back matches here, accounted for Spain's Carlos Moya 4-6 6-2 6-1 in their second round clash today.

The win came barely 24 hours after Bjorkman - who had been in the tennis wilderness after breaking into the world top five in 1997 - ended an 11 match winning streak by Spain's Alex Corretja in the first round yesterday.

Meanwhile, British 15th seed Tim Henman routed Argentine clay-courter Mariano Puerta 6-1 6-2.

Henman booked a third round showdown with either second seed Pete Sampras or fellow American Taylor Dent.

In other results from the morning session, Max Mirnyi of Belarus defeated Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-3 6-3 while Frenchman Arnaud Clement stopped Czech Martin Damm 7-5 6-3.

Sportscentral

CINCINNATI, Ohio, Aug 9 AAP - Life is starting to look up for Mark Philippousis on his hardcourt swing toward the US Open.

Philippoussis scored a double whammy at the $US2.95 million Masters Series tournament here today when he not only knocked over former world No.1 Marcelo Rios but also dodged a third round clash with current world No.1 Andre Agassi.

After early exits in his first two hardcourt events in Los Angeles and Toronto, Philippoussis would not have gone into today's second round match with great confidence against Rios who had won four of their previous five meetings.

But the 16th seed showed a welcome return of form as he survived a torrid encounter to win 6-7 (7-3) 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

The news got better, at least for Philippoussis, when Agassi limped out of the tournament, handing Spain's Fernando Vicente a 3-6 6-3 1-0 victory and the third round assignment against the Australian.

Agassi was again bothered by the back injury suffered in a car accident a month ago there is now be a real question mark over his prospects for the US Open.

Two-time Cincinnati champion Agassi said he began to feel back fatigue early in the second set, a sure warning sign of trouble.

"I felt myself compensating in my shots, pulling back on my serve," he said. "I knew it would only get worse. They say the only thing for it is rest.

"I've had tests, injections, sound therapy, electrostimulation, icing and massages. It felt weaker today than yesterday. It's affecting my movement and my concentration."

Earlier, the hard-court tournament lost its third seed, Magnus Norman of Sweden, who continued his slide from the top of the tennis world.

Norman, who is second in the ATP Champions points race, was upset by Slava Dosedal of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-3.

Norman - a French Open finalist this year - now hasn't reached the third round in his last three tournaments.

"I'm too tense. I'm not playing my game. My recent success has put a lot of pressure on me. It's a whole new situation for me to be the favorite," said Norman.

"All of a sudden I'm a favourite in a tournament and everybody wants an interview. I have to do this, I have to do that, it's not a normal preparation."

The disillusioned Norman, 24, said that he may ring up former great Bjorn Borg for advice. "I have more contact with him than any of the others. Maybe he can tell me something. I have to get back to level one in my tennis.

"After the French Open Bjorn spoke to me and said he followed my matches and to keep doing what I was doing. It was all positive what he said."

Norman admitted he's still stung by his defeat at Roland Garros, where Gustavo Kuerten claimed a second career trophy at the clay-court Grand Slam.

"It as the toughest loss of the year," said Norman, winner of five titles in 1999. "To tell the truth, I haven't played at the level I had in Paris since that day. I got so close to my ultimate goal and didn't get it."

Second seed Pete Sampras survived a violent pre-match thunderstorm and a one-hour lightning danger interruption before overcoming American tennager Taylor Dent 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) and reach the third round.

Franco Squillari of Argentina beat Czech Jiri Novak 6-3, 6-4, while Britain's Tim Henman put in a near-perfect performance over Argentine clay-courter Mariano Puerta 6-1, 6-2.