Agassi disposes of Pavel

MIAMI, MARCH 28: Andre Agassi woke up in time on Monday, disposing of Romanian Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the Eric...

MIAMI, MARCH 28: Andre Agassi woke up in time on Monday, disposing of Romanian Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the Ericsson Open.

Agassi, who sleepwalked through a 6-4 victory in the first set, found himself 3-1 down in the second when he got his wake-up call.

“I kind of started the second with the same mentality, just trying to keep the ball in the court and squeak it out somehow in two sets. “I just had to get back to work after that,” he said.

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Ruthlessly, Agassi took control of the match, dictating the pace with the authority that has made him the World No 1 and seen him win three of the last four Grand Slams.

Pavel, 67th in the World, managed just a few points as Agassi won the last five games and the match.

Agassi will get a chance to test his game in the next round, when he takes on two-time US Open champion Pat Rafter.

Rafter’s compatriot Mark Philippoussis posted the only win among the men that could be called an upset as the men’s third round matches were completed in the $5.725 million event.

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Philippoussis defeated 11th-seeded Cedric Pioline of France 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Britain’s Tim Henman, the 10th seed, posted a convincing victory over Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta. Chile’s Marcelo Rios, the eighth seed, beat France’s Nicolas Escude, sixth-seeded Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten beat erratic Croatian Goran Ivanisevic and ninth-seeded Ecuadoran Nicolas Lapentti encountered little resistance against Spain’s Felix Mantilla.

In women’s, Serena Williams, seeded fifth, was ousted by 13th-seed and local favorite Jennifer Capriati. The former child prodigy won 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-3.

In the quarters, Capriati will face France’s Sandrine Testud, who defeated Russian Elena Dementieva in a marathon match.

Martina Hingis beat Kim Clijsters of Belgium 6-0, 6-4, while Davenport extended her winning streak to 19 matches with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Elena Likhovtseva of Russia. Seventh-seeded Monica Seles defeated Anna Kournikova of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.