Agassi Falls to 46 Philippoussis Aces

The ace race was one-sided, the match much closer. Andre Agassi lost them both. Unseeded Mark Philippoussis tied a Wimbledon record with 46 aces and pulled off a fourth-round upset against second-seeded Agassi, 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

The defeat ended Agassi’s bid at 33 to become the oldest men’s champion at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Agassi hit 10 aces and kept the match close by overcoming 18 of 21 break points on his serve, but he converted only two of 11 break-point chances himself. Philippoussis repeatedly came up with big serves on important points – and against a player whose service return may be the best ever.

Philippoussis, who has 119 aces in four matches, earned his fourth quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon but has never advanced further. His serves topped out at 134 mph, and his ace total tied Goran Ivanisevic’s mark in a second-round loss to Magnus Norman in 1997.

The top-ranked Agassi, whose lone Wimbledon title came in 1992, committed four unforced errors to lose his serve and fall behind 4-3 in the final set. He had two break-point chances in both the sixth and eighth games but couldn’t convert.

Philippoussis won his final 16 service games, saving nine break points. He smacked a 119 mph service winner on the final point, then raised his arms in jubilation.

The 6-foot-4 Australian has long been touted as a potential Grand Slam champion and is again a title threat after enduring three knee operations during a 14-month span in 2000-01.

In women’s play, Venus Williams avenged her French Open defeat and advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive year by beating Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-3.

Williams was upset by Zvonareva four weeks ago in the fourth round at Paris, her earliest exit at a Grand Slam event in two years.

But that was on clay, with Williams slowed by an abdominal strain. On her favorite surface – Wimbledon’s grass – the two-time champion was a much more confident, aggressive opponent.

“The circumstances were different,” said Williams, who raced to a 5-0 lead and won in 59 minutes. “Last time she was the better player. This time it was nice I was able to win.”

Advancing in rapid succession along with the No. 4-seeded Williams were defending champion Serena Williams, No. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters, No. 5 Lindsay Davenport and No. 8 Jennifer Capriati. The five winners swept every set and lost a total of 23 games, fodder for the argument that women’s tennis lacks depth.

“The top players are playing well right now,” Davenport said.

In other men’s play, No. 5 Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals for the first time by beating Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Roddick lost a set for the first time in the tournament but won 17 of 18 service games, making him 63 for 65 through four rounds.

Roddick will next play Jonas Bjorkman. The unseeded Swede reached the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years at Wimbledon by beating Max Mirnyi 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

No. 4 Roger Federer hurt his back warming up, required treatment in the first set but still beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

“It was very tough for me,” Federer said. “I don’t know how I won.”

Alexander Popp, a 6-foot-7 German, made the most of his 14-inch height advantage against 5-foot-5 Olivier Rochus to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Popp will play Philippoussis next.

No. 8 Sjeng Schalken defeated No. 9 Rainer Schuettler, the Australian Open runner-up, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.

On the women’s side, French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne beat unseeded Mary Pierce 6-3, 6-3. Maria Sharapova, a 16-year-old Russian playing at Wimbledon for the first time, lost to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.

No. 27 Silvia Farina Elia, playing in her 44th Grand Slam tournament, reached the quarterfinals for the first time by beating Paola Suarez 7-5, 7-6 (3).

There will be two all-American women’s quarterfinals Tuesday: Capriati vs. Serena Williams and Davenport vs. Venus Williams.

Serena Williams, seeded No. 1, won 16 of the first 18 points and beat No. 15 Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-2 in 50 minutes.

Clijsters worked even faster, eliminating No. 13 Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-2 in 49 minutes. The French Open runner-up has lost 12 games in four matches.

“In all of my matches I’ve started really well,” Clijsters said. “That’s a great feeling to have. It really helps your confidence.”

Davenport, the 1999 champion, beat unseeded Shinobu Asagoe 6-4, 6-1. Capriati eliminated No. 10 Anastasia Myskina 6-2, 6-3 and will now try to break her streak of nine consecutive losses against the Williams sisters, including seven in a row against Serena.

While the women’s matches went quickly, Agassi and Philippoussis staged a 3-hour, 12-minute drama on Court 1. The Australian’s win prevented a sweep by the Americans of their six fourth-round matches.

In the third-set tiebreaker, Agassi was the player hitting the big serves. When he boomed three service winners and then a return winner on set point, he appeared in control of the match.

But Philippoussis came back, breaking serve in the second game of the fourth set and holding from there. He dug out of a love-40 hole in the seventh game with five consecutive unreturnable serves.