Kuerten, Philippoussis, Rafter advance at Salem Open tennis
SportsTicker
HONG KONG (Ticker) -- On a blistering hot and humid day at the $375,000 Salem Open, Gustavo Kuerten turned up the heat.
Disappointed by his performance in the opening round of the tournament, the reigning French Open champion lifted his game a notch and easily defeated Sargis Sargsian, 6-2, 7-5, today to reach the quarterfinals.
Kuerten struggled to defeat Vincent Spadea in the first round, but he demonstrated the form today that carried him to a quarterfinals berth in the Sydney Olympics. Kuerten's victory set up a quarterfinals encounter with Australia's Patrick Rafter, the No. 7 seed, who defeated his close friend Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
"It's a relief for me (to win the match)," Kuerten said. "I had a tough situation in my first-round match. So today I played much better, totally better than my first match. I raised the level of my game."
Kuerten, of Brazil, has gotten his game back together after a disappointing first-round loss at the U.S. Open. Kuerten reached the quarterfinals at the Olympics in Sydney before falling to eventual gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia.
Kuerten leads ATP Champions Race 2000, which will determine the year-end No. 1 ranking. The Brazilian already has clinched a place at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup event.
Rafter needed two hours and 16 minutes to defeat Bjorkman and in the intense heat and humidity of Hong Kong, it seemed even longer.
"My shoes are wet, my socks are wet, the court is wet and it can become a little bit dangerous," Rafter said. "I went through four shirts and had another one to go through. I went through one pair of shorts, which I should have changed again. I should have changed my shoes. My shoes were very wet at the end. I went through one pair of shoes and two pair of socks. Hopefully, they'll dry overnight."
Rafter was runner-up here in 1994 and 1997, losing to three-time champion Michael Chang of the United States both times. Chang, the No. 8 seed, will face second-seeded Tim Henman of Britain in a quarterfinal match.
In other second round matches today, fourth seed Mark Philippoussis of Australia downed Chris Woodruff of the United States, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-3, and Sergei Bruguera of Spain upset sixth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Bruguera will meet Philippoussis in another quarterfinals match Friday.
"I was pretty happy with the way I played today," Philippoussis said. "Chris is a tough player. He has great returns and I just picked up my game in the second set. I couldn't make a return in the first."
Philippoussis is playing under new coach Peter McNamara for the first time this week and is seeking his second title of the year. He won the Sybase Open at San Jose in February on hard courts and is 33-17 overall this year.
In another quarterfinals match Friday, third seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany meets fifth seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.