Henman eases past Safin

Henman showed good form in his victory

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Tim Henman is through to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells after beating Marat Safin in straight sets.

The British number one sealed a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 victory to claim his first success over a top-ten ranked player for 20 months.

Henman, took his record against the seventh seed to 2-2 having lost twice to the former US Open winner since beating him in Rotterdam in 1999.

I played a really good tiebreaker - he (Safin) gave me an opportunity to get back in that set

Tim Henman

The 27-year-old connected with 63% of his first serves and hit four aces and only one double fault.

Henman was down a break with Safin serving for the opening set at 5-4, but Henman broke the seventh seed before going on to take the tie-break.

In the second set, Henman gained the decisive break to go 5-4 as Safin became increasingly frustrated.

The Australian Open finalist ended the match by meekly returning a serve into the net.

Henman said: "With Marat, everyone knows he's got a tremendous amount of talent. He's also susceptible to down moments in a match.

Hewitt's fine form in the USA continues

"I played a really good tiebreaker - he gave me an opportunity to get back in that set."

"I didn't give him too much pace. I made him hit a lot of balls, once I started to move well. I think I was making life difficult for him."

Gasto Gaudio will provide Henamn's next opposition, after he beat Julien Boutter in three sets.

Lleyton Hewitt is also through to the last eight after securing a 6-2 6-4 win over Jan-Michael Gambill.

After two tough opening matches, Hewitt was back at his tenacious best, and ended the match with a ripping passing shot beyond the helpless Gambill.

At the crucial stages in the match I was able to make the serve that I needed

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

The world number one has now recorded 15th consecutive victories on American soil, a run stretching back to the US Open win last year.

Hewitt will now face Swede Thomas Enqvist, who beat 12th seed Roger Federer of Switzerland in straight sets.

Second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, trying to improve on his semi-final performance here last year, beat Juan Ignacio Chela to reach the quarter-finals.

Kafelnikov defeated the unseeded Argentine 7-6 (10-8) 6-4, fighting off two set points in the first set tiebreaker.

"I've been working on my serve the last few days and it helps. At the crucial stages in the match I was able to make the serve that I needed," he said.

Sampras battled his way to victory

Pete Sampras struggled but made it to the men's quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Fabrice Santoro.

He appeared on his way to an easy victory but lost the second set to the Frenchman who had beaten him three times in their previous six meetings.

After building a 5-2 lead in the third set, Sampras lost the next three games.

He broke Santoro in the 12th game, with the score at 6-5, to reach the last eight.

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Indian Wells third round results:

L Hewitt (Aus) beat J-M Gambill (US) 6-2 6-4
T Henman (GB) bt M Safin (Rus) 7-6 (7/3) 6-4
Y Kafelnikov (Rus) beat J-I Chela (Arg) 7-6 (10/8) 6-4
T Enqvist (Swe) bt R Federer (Swi) 6-4 6-3
G Gaudio (Arg) bt J Boutter (Fra) 7-6 (8/6) 2-6 6-1
T Martin (US) bt K Kucera (Svk) 7-5, 6-2