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Agassi moves into quarterfinals

MADRID, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Andre Agassi converted the only break point in the match Thursday and outlasted Spain's Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tennis Masters Series -- Madrid.

At 5-5 in the third set, Lopez played a loose service game, hitting a pair of errors before two double faults. Agassi served out the win, which took more than two hours and was played before a raucous, partisan crowd.

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"Tonight was a great match," Agassi said. "It's always disappointing that somebody has to lose a match like that. (The crowd) had a great feeling out there, phenomenal enthusiasm. It's very rare you get to play with that sort of passion. It happens in Davis Cup and it happens occasionally in matches like this."

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Lopez, 21, finished with 19 aces against arguably tennis' best returner and 49 winners.

"I'm never comfortable not breaking serve," said Agassi, who is tied for the ATP lead this year with four titles. "For me, my game, I want to always put pressure on the other guy. So I don't think I was very comfortable with the rhythm of the match tonight.

"But with that being said, I had to ask myself, `is that because of what I'm doing and I'm not playing well, I'm not hitting my shots, I'm not returning well, or is he coming up with the goods?' And I think tonight, it was a high-standard match because he took care of his serve and I took care of my serve."

The 32-year-old American takes on the lone remaining Spaniard, fifth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, in Friday's quarterfinals.

"We both are going to try to play aggressive tennis and control the points," said Agassi, who lost their only previous meeting in the French Open quarterfinals this year. "Against a player of his quality, it's just a question of who does that better."

Ferrero recovered from a dropped set to rout countryman Alex Corretja, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

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"I started to strike strong from the baseline," said Ferrero, who moved closer to clinching a spot in the eight-man field at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. "I played a meter and a half deeper in the second set and he couldn't come forward so much. My forehand was working well."

Seventh seed Sebastien Grosjean of France swept past Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1. In the quarterfinals, Grosjean will square off with Agustin Calleri of Argentina, who knocked off No. 15 Thomas Johansson of Sweden.

Calleri, who ousted second seed Marat Safin in the second round, posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Johansson, the Australian Open champion.

"I started practicing a week before the U.S. Open, I've been working hard," said the 26-year-old from Buenos Aires, who advanced to his first Tennis Masters Series quarterfinal. "It's paying off."

No. 11 Jiri Novak saved a match point before eliminating eighth seed Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-5. The win pushed Novak ahead of Albert Costa for the eighth spot in the 2002 Champions Race, improving the Czech's chances to grab one of the six available berths in Shanghai.

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Meanwhile, Moya's fifth-place spot in the Champions Race was taken by No. 12 Roger Federer of Switzerland, who recorded a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. Novak also can pass the Spaniard if he gets past Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan in the quarterfinals.

Srichaphan dispatched Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-2. He claimed his first career title in August on Long Island and was runner-up at Chennai and Washington.

Also, French qualifier Fabrice Santoro continued to roll with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian. Santoro credited an aggressive game plan for unnerving the Argentine.

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