Agassi, Davenport Move On at Aussie Open

M E L B O U R N E, Australia, Jan. 19 -- Midway through the final set in histhird-round match at the Australian Open, a weary Pete Sampras madefor the shade and took a seat in a lineswoman's chair.

"Felt like I was playing on hot coals," he said.

With sunny, 93-degree weather and Sampras engaged in his thirdthree-hour match this week, it was no wonder he wanted to sit. Thathe was able to get up again was perhaps surprising.

After his brief respite, Sampras closed out a comeback victorytoday, beating Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in 3hours, 8 minutes.

Defending Champ Agassi Beats Prinosil

That made 9 hours, 26 minutes, of tennis for the third-seededSampras. With a match against Todd Martin next, followed by alikely showdown against Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals, it wasuncertain how much stamina Sampras had left.

"I've seen him win Slams injured, so I don't buy any of it,"Agassi said. "If he's tired or not, you've got to beat him. Ifhe's injured or not, you've got to beat him. One of the things hehas proven over the past decade is that it's not easy to do. He'shad three opponents that have figured that out the hard way."

The sixth-seeded Agassi, who followed Sampras on center court,caught a break when his opponent, David Prinosil, retired becauseof heat exhaustion after about an hour. Agassi overcame a 6-2deficit in a first-set tiebreaker and led 7-6 (11), 5-0 whenPrinosil quit.

"It would have been nice to finish," Agassi said. "But he'sOK and I'm on to the next round, so that's all good."

Agassi, the defending champion, has needed only 4 hours, 5minutes, in his three matches. His next opponent is crowd-pleasingAustralian Andrew Ilie, who has celebrated each of his threevictories this week by ripping off his shirt and throwing it intothe stands.

Sampras Is Going for 13th Grand Slam

Other matches in the round of 16 will pit No. 2-seeded MaratSafin against No. 14 Dominik Hrbaty, and No. 8 Tim Henman againstNo. 12 Patrick Rafter.