Agassi stumbles in Indian Wells, Safin through

By Matthew Cronin

INDIAN WELLS (Reuters) – Andre Agassi suffered another
setback in his bid to return to form with a 7-5 6-2 loss to
Germany’s Tommy Haas in the third round of the Pacific Life
Open on Monday.

Two-times grand slam champion Marat Safin notched another
win in his comeback, beating fifth seed Nicolay Davydenko 7-6
3-6 6-4 while Lleyton Hewitt survived a Rainer Schuettler
onslaught to advance 7-6 2-6 6-4.

But Britain’s Tim Henman wasn’t as fortunate, falling 6-4
6-4 to Czech Tomas Berdych.

On the women’s side, top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne of
Belgium destroyed Aiko Nakamur 6-0 6-0, while fourth seed Elena
Dementieva had to use all her guile to overcome Indian
sensation Sania Mirza 5-7 6- 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

In just his second tournament in the past seven months,
2005 Australian Open champion Safin fought hard to take down
the Russian number one for the second time in two weeks.

“Because he’s No. 1 in Russia, he doesn’t want to play
against the guy who is out for seven months and basically he
has nothing to lose, and he has to face it,” Safin said.

“It’s difficult to deal with the pressure for him.”

The 26-year-old former world number one was out for much of
last year with a knee injury, but said he’s worked diligently
to get himself back in shape.

“I’m ambitious,” said Safin, who is ranked number 53. “I
better start climbing back up there, because otherwise I will
not get into tournaments. People will not take me as serious.
It’s very important to show everybody I still know how to play
tennis and I’m still fighting.”

FLUSTERED

The 35-year-old Agassi, who has played only seven matches
since reaching the final of the 2005 US Open due to back and
ankle injuries, said he was disappointed with his form.

“It’s pretty patchy right now,” Agassi said. “It’s harder
than it looks to put together a good match.

“It’s frustrating. I’ve been through it before. But each
time it gets tougher.”

Haas will face 12th seed James Blake in the fourth round,
who beat Tommy Robredo 6-2 7-5. Third seed Andy Roddick pounded
Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3 6-4.

Young German seventh seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld continued
her stellar play with a 2-6 6-1 6-2 over Israel’s Anna
Smashnova to reach round four and in a marathon three-setter,
17th-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko stopped French 12th seed
Tatiana Golovin 1-6 7-5 7-6 to get to the same stage.

In a battle of Russians, number 22 Anna Chakvetadze
defeated number 11 Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3.