On-song Agassi eases through

Agassi has been in commanding form in Rome

 Third round results from Rome

Andre Agassi remained on course for what would be a first Rome Tennis Masters title as he defeated Agustin Calleri 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals.

Agassi faced stout resistence from the Argentine who punched the air and glared at his opponent every time he won an important point.

But in the end the ninth seed prevailed to book a last-eight date with Spain's Albert Costa.

"It was good for me to get my concentration working today," said Agassi, who had to save a set point against him at 4-5 down in the second set.

"You have to concentrate against him because he is playing so well and he hits the ball so big. I got a bit lucky at the end."

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Costa dispatched compatriot Albert Montanes, conqueror of second-seeded Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in his match.

Tommy Haas lived up to his billing as top seed in the tournament by beating Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Rome Tennis Masters.

Germany's Haas, seeded seventh, is now the highest ranked player left in the competition.

The top six seeds, Lleyton Hewitt, Gustavo Kuerten, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Tim Henman and Marat Safin, were all early casualties.

Haas remained on course for the final

Grosjean had saved three match points in his second-round match but 24 hours later looked to have run out of fight as Haas's mixture of power and precision won the day.

Haas now faces a daunting match against in-form Carlos Moya who raced past Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, 6-2 6-1.

The former French Open champion's mastery of clay-court tennis told the story against a helpless Enqvist.

Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic was the first man through to the quarter-finals.

The 14th seed outfoxed unseeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 6-1 to set up a last-eight tie with rising American star James Blake.

Blake knocked out Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez 4-6 6-3 6-3 on his way to his first ever Masters Series quarter-final.

"Every match I feel I'm getting stronger and stronger," said the world number 40.

"Fernando's played a lot of tennis this week so he might have got a little tired but I felt great and I feel ready for tomorrow."

And Andy Roddick made it three American quarter-finalists with a hard-fought win over South African veteran Wayne Ferreira.

Ferreira, coming off the back of victories over Gaston Gaudio and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, took the first set from the 13th seed before Roddick roared back to take the next two to seal a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win and a quarter-final against Tommy Robredo.

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ATP Masters Series third round results:
(Seedings in bold)

14 J Novak (Cze) bt I Ljubicic (Cro) 6-4 6-1
7 T Haas (Ger) bt 10 S Grosjean (Fra) 6-3 6-4
9 A Agassi (US) bt A Calleri (Arg) 7-6 7-5
A Costa (Spa) bt A Montanes (Spa) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
C Moya (Spa) bt T Enqvist (Swe) 6-2 6-1
T Robredo (Spa) bt X Malisse (Bel) 6-2 6-4
J Blake (US) bt F Gonzalez (Chi) 4-6 6-3 6-3
13 A Roddick (US) bt W Ferreira (SA) 3-6 6-4 6-2

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