Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt are another step closer to a repeat of their final earlier this month in Cincinnati as both blasted into the semifinals of the US$500,000 Washington Open.
Top seed Agassi, 34, reached the final four here for the seventh straight time as he hammered home a 6-4, 6-4 win over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu on Friday.
PHOTO: EPA
It marked his ninth win in a row after winning Cincinnati at Hewitt's expense less than a fortnight ago.
Hewitt, seeded second, dropped his first set of the week, but held off an inspired charge from another Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
American icon Agassi came in with a valuable lesson from his comeback at Roland Garros two years ago, when he recovered from two sets and a break down to score a win over the young French gun Mathieu.
But it was a different story on hardcourt, where Agassi rules.
Agassi, holder of 59 titles including eight Grand Slams, didn't allow the 98th-ranked Mathieu a chance to threaten, breaking once per set to stay in control.
"I feel great, I'm rising to the challenge of each guy and looking forward to the next one," said Agassi, a five-time Washington champion and 26-9 a year in which a hip injury forced him to miss Wimbledon.
But with an entry next week at Long Island as a lead-up to the US Open starting a week from Monday, Agassi is pumped on his chances for more success.
"It's hard to ask for much more than what I've had going into the Open, I'm feeling really comfortable out there."
Against Saulnier, Hewitt dropped his first set of the week but took the deciding third into a tie-breaker. He won as the 29-year-old Frenchman put a forehand into the net to lose.
"He wasn't going to go away," said Hewitt, whose decision to skip the Athens Olympics in favor of polishing his hard-court game for the US Open is paying off.
"He was serving unusually well," Hewitt, now 46-13 on the season. "I couldn't get any rhythm on his serve.
Hewitt will today play American fourth seed Robby Ginepri, who booked his spot over Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Hewitt owns their series 3-0 with a win each year from 2002.
Cincinnati Open
Top seed Lindsay Davenport had little difficulty advancing to the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open on Friday, downing seventh-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-2 to register her 16th straight victory.
A three-time winner this season, the fourth-ranked American appears to be hitting top form ahead of next month's US Open and took just 45 minutes to dismantle Pennetta and improve her match record to 47-6 this year.
Fourth-seeeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli stands between Davenport and a place in the final after she eased to a 6-3 6-1 victory over unseeded Laura Granville.
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