American Andre Agassi stumbled out to a 4-1 deficit, then recovered to beat local wild-card entry Simon Larose 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday and reach the quarterfinals of the Canada Masters.
The top-seeded Agassi, a three-time champion at the hard-court tuneup for the US Open, wasn't worried when he trailed.
"I quickly turned it around," he said. "Today, I definitely took a big step forward."
Agassi next faces Rainer Schuettler in a rematch of their Australian Open final in January. Agassi beat the German in straight sets then, and this will be their first meeting since.
Schuettler, seeded eighth, beat 10th-seeded Jiri Novak 7-5, 6-0.
In later action in Canada, sixth-seeded Andy Roddick made the round of eight by beating No. 9 Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-3. Roddick's next opponent is Karol Kucera, who upset French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero by a score of 6-3, 7-5.
That allowed Wimbledon champion Roger Federer to move past Ferrero for the top spot in the ATP Champions Race, the calendar-year ratings based on performances at the top tournaments.
Federer, seeded third, eliminated No. 16 Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, setting up a quarterfinal against Max Mirnyi, who upset No. 11 Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-2.
Mirnyi has won his last two hard-court matches against Federer, including at last year's US Open.
David Nalbandian, last year's Wimbledon runner-up, downed Vince Spadea 6-4, 6-2, and next faces Feliciano Lopez, who ousted Karol Beck 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Lopez had a record of only 10-16 this year until he entered Wimbledon, where he made the fourth round for the second straight year. He lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.
Since then, Lopez has advanced to the semifinals at two of four tournaments.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
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