Andre Agassi found one comforting thing about his spooky match: It didn't take long.
"A 1:08 match - about right," Agassi decided.That's the only thing that went absolutely right for the world's top player. He sped through one of the most up-and-down matches of his career Thursday night while advancing to the quarterfinals of the ATP Championship.
Agassi did everything right in the first set against 16th-seed Alberto Berasategui in the first set, did everything wrong in the second, then recovered for a 6-0, 0-6, 6-2 win.
"Those are dangerous situations," Agassi said. "I was thinking, `I've got a problem on my hands.' "
His overall superiority over Berasategui, a baseline specialist, pulled him through and set up a match today against another unseeded player, Renzo Furlan of Italy.
In the other quarterfinals, No. 2 Pete Sampras plays No. 8 Michael Stich of Germany; No. 4 Michael Chang, a two-time ATP champion, plays No. 11 Jim Courier; and No. 6 Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia plays No. 13 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.
Agassi's match capped another steamy day - 90-degree temperatures and high humidity. No one knows more about the weather than Sampras.
The world's second-ranked player hooked up with No. 15 Todd Martin in the tournament's most engrossing match Thursday afternoon. They matched sizzling serves and pressure shots for 2 hours and 36 minutes.
There was only one service break in the match. Sampras overcame 10 break points - eight in the third set - to win 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Sampras served a 110 mph ace, his 23rd of the match, to finish it, then walked slowly to the net to shake Martin's hand. They both shuffled to the sideline, sweat-drenched shirts clinging to their backs, while the sun-splashed crowd gave a standing ovation.
"I'd much rather win in straight sets and not sweat so much," Sampras said.
He heads back into the heat today against Stich, who needed a lot less sweat to beat Patrick McEnroe 7-6, 6-3. Stich played on the same court Thursday and was aware of Sampras' ordeal.
"He had a very tough match," said Stich, who has won two of his last three matches against Sampras. "If I can play a little better than today, I think there's a chance."
Credit Martin's play for leaving Sampras running on empty. Martin, of Lansing, Mich., played Sampras even by nearly every statistical measure.