Sports: Roddick's swift rise continues

NEW YORK -- Sitting in his chair during a changeover at the U.S. Open, Andy Roddick sneaked a peak at the stadium scoreboard showing highlights of his match.

He had to like what he saw.

The 19-year-old Roddick, whose startling ascent has revived hope for the next generation of American men's tennis, made another breakthrough Sunday by advancing to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

In a rout worthy of his favorite team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Roddick blew out French Open runner-up and No. 11 seed Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

"Incredible -- best I've ever seen Roddick look," four-time Open champion John McEnroe said.

Next up will be Tommy Robredo in the fourth round Tuesday. It's another milestone match for Roddick, who made a big splash at the French Open and Wimbledon before losing in the third round.

He said he can sense the stakes rise.

"It's a blast," he said. "You definitely feel it a little bit more. I'm no longer the new guy. I'm not surprising anybody. I'm not sneaking up on anybody anymore.

"Still, I'm definitely having fun. I'm playing tennis. That's a blast."

At the start of the year, there was a lot of hand-wringing by U.S. tennis officials about who would fill the void when Andre Agassi, 31, and Pete Sampras, 30, retire. Roddick, who turned 19 Thursday, has provided an answer, storming into the top 20.

In other men's action, Gustavo Kuerten dug a big hole, then worked his way out.

The top-seeded Brazilian rallied to beat big-serving Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-7 (5-7), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the final match of the third round.

Kuerten played 3 hours 19 minutes before converting a break point on his 11th chance. His backhand passing shot clipped the net cord and skipped over Mirnyi's head for a 3-1 lead in the final set, and Kuerten quickly closed out the victory.

Kuerten served at 5-6 in the fourth set to force the tiebreaker, then took a lead in the tiebreaker at 3-1 that he never relinquished.

The final 16 will not include popular Goran Ivanisevic. The reigning Wimbledon champion, seeded 15th, lost to unseeded Albert Costa of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).

On the women's side, two-time champion Monica Seles got in trouble early and never quite recovered, eliminated by 18-year-old Daja Bedanova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the round of 16.

It was Seles' earliest elimination at the Open since 1990, when she lost in the third round. She won the event the following two years. She missed the event the next two years, recovering from a knife attack in Munich. She reached the final in her first two years back and four straight quarterfinals since.

"I figured if I keep the ball in as long as I can, I have a big chance to win the point because I'm not as strong as Monica," said Bedanova, ranked 37th. "It would be hard for me to overpower her.

"I can't really describe it, if you win such a big match in such a big tournament."

Seles, seeded No. 7, was doomed by 51 unforced errors. She saved one match point before ending a long rally by netting a return on the second.

"I didn't feel comfortable out there from the first ball hit," Seles said.

Top seed Martina Hingis fell behind Jelena Dokic 3-0, then won 12 of the final 13 games for a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Hingis, seeking her first Grand Slam title in 21/2 years, plays Bedanova in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Former champions Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams will meet in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. No. 3 Davenport struggled past Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, while No. 10 Williams swept the final eight games for a 7-5, 6-0 win over Wimbledon runner-up Justine Henin.

Williams has won six of her eight matches against Davenport but lost to her at the 2000 Open.

"I'm going to be ready this year," Williams said. "We know each other like our backhands."

Davenport won the first set routinely, then played sluggish, distracted tennis, troubled by the wind. At one point, she complained about a call to chair umpire Leanne White, saying, "Not paying attention, or what?"

Davenport knew she had been through a struggle, especially in the second set.

"I just didn't play well," she said. "The conditions were rough. I didn't handle them appropriately. I didn't feel I had good control of the ball.

"I was looking forward to the third set."

After swapping service breaks with Likhovtseva at the start of the third set, Davenport broke the 21st-seeded Russian again and took control.

The day's marathon winner was Robredo, an unseeded Spaniard who needed 31/2 hours to upset fifth-seeded countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1).

In other action, No. 16 Tommy Haas defeated Jiri Novak 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round against No. 4 Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated No. 25 Albert Portas 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

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