Andre Agassi outwitted Mark Woodforde yesterday to take one more step towards duplicating his surprise 1994 victory in the US Open. Agassi, a former world number one who has sunk to 63rd in the world, repaid Woodforde for a quarter-final defeat in Indianapolis two weeks ago with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 third round beating.
The victory sent Agassi into a fourth-round match with 13thseeded Australian Pat Rafter, who cruised past France's Lionel Roux 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
Agassi, who was also unseeded when he won here in 1994, said the defeat at Indy taught him what to do against Woodforde. "Mark feeds off his ability to work on your pace," Agassi said. "But when you don't give him the pace, when you keep it out of his wheelhouse, he has to generate his own. He can't get away with chipping if he's got to generate pace."
So Agassi slowed it down, and Woodforde floundered.
"I just didn't find an answer," Woodforde said. "I was always in two minds, I wanted to try to serve-volley on my second serve, but I was frightened of his return."
Agassi had been notably lacking in the ability to execute even a sound game plan effectively for much of the year. He admitted that before the tournament he was wishing he had one more warm-up event.
"I was still going out there in the first round going, `I've got to work through a few here to believe my game exists'," he said.
He made a believer out of himself with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 secondround victory over Adrian Voinea. Now Rafter is the only seed left in his quarter and Agassi is feeling confident: "I'm in a whole different place now," he said. "Now it's not about comeback. It's about going out there and winning matches."
Monica Seles, also struggling this year to regain the form that earned her nine Grand Slam titles, battled to a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 fourth round victory over ninth-seeded Mary Pierce.
"I felt if I could stay aggressive I would be doing very well," Seles said of her plan for the match. "I thought I was going to start out being aggressive. A couple of times I missed the shot, I became very tentative.
"I had a hard time finding my rhythm. Those are the times I need to hang in there. Hopefully as the matches progress, I can get back that aggressive style of play."
In the quarter-finals Seles will meet either fifth-seeded South African Amanda Coetzer or 11th seed Irina Spirlea of Romania.
The other quarter-final in the lower half of the draw will pit unseeded Sandrine Testud of France against American Venus Williams.
Williams, 17 and playing in her first US Open, beat South African Joanette Kruger 6-2, 6-3, while Testud downed Slovakian Karina Habsudova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/1) to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Men's second seed Michael Chang reached the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Armenian Sargis Sargsian. Chang will now meet France's Cedric Pioline. Pioline, the beaten finalist at this year's Wimbledon, and US Open runner-up in 1993, reached the fourth round with a five-set victory over India's Leander Paes 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Pioline's record in five setters is not great, although no doubt he took heart from beating Michael Stich over five at Wimbledon.
Tenth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile also waded through five sets, emerging with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win over Germany's Tommy Haas.
