MIAMI, March 26 (UPI) -- Pete Sampras' woes continued Monday night at the NASDAQ 100 Open but Lleyton Hewitt continued to breeze along.
Without an ATP Tour title in almost two years, Sampras was ousted by Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, in the third round of the $6.44 million Tennis Masters Series hardcourt event.
In men's third-round matches, top seed Hewitt of Australia extended his winning streak to 13 matches with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 27 Jan-Michael Gambill.
Hewitt has not lost since returning from a bout with chicken pox and also has won his past 20 matches on American hard courts.
The 21-year-old Australian next takes on American James Blake in a rematch of their heated five-setter at the U.S. Open. Blake eliminated 15th seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina, 6-4, 6-3.
On the women's side, Jennifer Capriati, Venus and Serena Williams and Martina Hingis advanced.
Top seed Capriati held off No. 15 Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1; second seed and three-time champion Venus Williams crushed No. 14 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-2, 6-0; and No. 3 Hingis, a former champion from Switzerland, thrashed No. 23 Alexandra Stevenson, 6-0, 6-2.
In the quarterfinals, Hingis will battle eighth seed Serena Williams, who downed Marissa Irvin, 6-1, 6-4.
History was made during women's fourth-round action as 12th seed Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated No. 26 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg in the longest final-set tiebreak in a women's singles match in professional tennis history. Dementieva posted a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (16-14) in two hours, 14 minutes on her sixth match point.
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium dispatched Zimbabwe's Cara Black, 6-4, 6-2; fifth seed Monica Seles defeated No. 9 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; No. 28 Tatiana Panova of Russia surprised 11th seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).
Sampras, the 10th-seeded American, has won 63 career
tournaments, including a record 13 Grand Slams, but has not claimed a title since Wimbledon in 2000 -- a span of 24 events.
He managed just three winners from the baseline, compared to 27 for Gonzalez. And his vaunted serve let him down as he recorded five aces and put in 50 percent of his first serves.
Sampras has won this event three times and reached the final in 1995.
In other men's action, fourth seed Tommy Haas of Germany fell to No. 26 Andrei Pavel of Romania, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6); No. 5 Tim Henman of Britain recovered from a neck injury sustained before the match when he was hit with his own gear bag to beat No. 32 Felix Mantilla of Spain, 7-5, 6-4; and sixth seed Marat Safin of Russia rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Peruvian qualifier Luis Horna.
Twelfth seed Roger Federer of Switzerland eased by No. 23 Albert Portas, 6-4, 6-1; and Franco Squillari of Argentina ousted Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
