Rusedski falls to Agassi

Agassi was rarely troubled by Rusedski

Click here for Wednesday's results

Andre Agassi eased into the quarter-finals of the Scottsdale Classic in Arizona with a straightforward win over Greg Rusedski.

The American top seed, a three-time champion in the hardcourt event, ousted the British number two 6-4 6-4 and has now won six of their eight encounters.

Agassi's transition from indoors last week to desert hard-court at altitude has been smooth.

"I took care of my serve and executed my shots well," he said. "It helped to get early breaks in each set.

"I was moving well and making my opponent hit a lot of balls.

"I'm taking my opportunities and hitting with conviction - I feel good about my game right now."

Rusedski, who took an injury time-out early in the second set for treatment to a blister on his racket hand, was optimistic despite coming up short.

Eliminated

"I didn't play badly, he served very well," he said. "But I'm starting to get my feel back. I'll be ready for Indian Wells and Miami.

"I'm not too disappointed. Near the end I started to play better."

In other second-round matches, Juan Chela of Argentina and Israel's Noam Okun knocked out a pair of seeded Spaniards.

Fifth seed Alex Corretja and Albert Portas, seeded six, were both eliminated on the third day of the hard-court event.

Chela has been on a roll this season, reaching the final in Sydney where he lost to Roger Federer. He reached the semi-finals in his last two events in Buenos Aires and Acapulco.

He triumphed 6-4 7-5 over Corretja, who got married in December and is still working on his overall fitness.

Okun scored the best result of his career, defeating Portas 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.

After claiming the first set in a tie-breaker, Okun broke in the fourth game, but lost his own serve in the fifth.

The Israeli earned victory as Portas lost serve with a double-fault to end the contest after one hour and 18 minutes.

Okun said: "It's a great feeling to be in my first ATP quarter-final - hopefully I can go further."

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Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic: Wednesday's results:

N Okun (Isr) bt 6-A Portas (Spa) 7-6 (7/4) 6-4
J-I Chela (Arg) bt 5-A Corretja (Spa) 6-4 7-5
J Balcells (Spa) bt M Kratochvil (Swi) 6-3 6-4
1-A Agassi (US) bt G Rusedski (GB) 6-4 6-4

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