Henman eases past Lapentti

Tim Henman feels his form is improving

Click here for Thursday's results

Tim Henman has moved into the quarter-finals of the £2m Masters Series event in Stuttgart, beating Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.

Having beaten Lapentti in the Davis Cup last month, the seventh seed maintained his superiority over the clay court specialist from Ecuador.

His victory takes him through to a meeting with home favourite Tommy Haas.

Also through to the last eight are US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt, Thomas Enqvist, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Pete Sampras, Wayne Ferreira and Max Mirnyi.

To go through the match with no breaks against me is good for the confidence

Tim Henman

Henman had one chance to break Lapentti's service in the first set with the score at 4-2 but failed and the set went to a tie break.

The British number one prevailed 7-4, and then enjoyed a much more comfortable second set, coasting through with breaks in the third and seventh games.

Henman hit just three aces during the hour and 37 minutes he was on court, but that was balanced against no double-faults.

"I'm obviously delighted to have won and now I've got the chance to rest up a little bit before tomorrow's match," he said.

Struggle

"My serve is coming together a little better now, and all the work (coach) Larry Stefanki and I have done is slowly starting to pay off.

"To go through the match with no breaks against me is good for the confidence and I'm looking forward to the quarter-finals."

Pete Sampras had to fight back from a break down in the final set to beat another former world number one, Marcelo Rios.

The American finally prevailed 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 and will face Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the quarter-finals.

Lleyton Hewitt, Sampras's conqueror in the US Open final, also needed three sets to book his place in the last eight.

The Australian finally came through against Argentine Guillermo Canas 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Tommy Haas delighted the Stuttgart crowd by fighting back for a 4-6 6-3 7-6 win over Morocco's Hicham Arazi.

Enqvist hides after a poor shot against Roddick

Arazi, who had knocked out second seed Andre Agassi, came close to ending German hopes, building a 3-0 lead in the decisive set.

But 15th seed Haas, on a high after winning his third title of the year in Vienna on Sunday, recovered to force a tie break which he won 7-1 aided by a net cord on match point.

Thomas Enqvist is also through after beating Andy Roddick 6-3 6-7 7-6, but had a struggle in his first meeting against the 14th seed.

The Swede had a chance to wrap up in quick straight sets, but his first match point was wasted by an unforced error.

Overhead smash

The American 14th seed took the set into a tie-breaker, squaring the match on a smash.

In the third, the seed broke for 1-0, but that was followed by consecutive breaks in the 10th, 11th and 12th games.

Roddick missed on a match point of his own in the 12th game of the last set as Enqvist produced a forehand winner.

The ensuing tie-break again provided drama, with Enqvist recovering from 1-5 down. He finally won with an overhead smash.

His quarter-final opponent is Russian fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov who triumphed over Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-4.

South Africa's Wayne Ferreira ousted eighth seed Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 3-6 7-6 - which was good news for Henman.

The Frenchman is one of the players he needs to overhaul to qualify for the lucrative Masters Cup event in Sydney.

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Results from Thursday's action at the Stuttgart Masters:

T Henman (GB) bt N Lapentti (Ecu) 7-6 (7/4) 6-2
T Enqvist (Swe) bt A Roddick (US) 6-3 6-7 7-6
T Haas (Ger) bt H Arazi (Mor) 4-6 6-3 7-6
Y Kafelnikov (Rus) bt J Novak (Cze) 6-3 6-4
W Ferreira (SA) bt S Grosjean (Fra) 6-3 3-6 7-6
P Sampras (US) bt M Rios (Chi) 4-6 7-6 6-4
L Hewitt (Aus) bt G Canas (Arg) 3-6 6-1 6-4
M Mirnyi (Blr) bt G Ivanisevic (Cro) 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (10/8)