He's back

Resurgent Rios cruises into quarterfinals

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Former world number one Marcelo Rios made his first grand slam quarterfinal in nearly three years with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over Nicolas Lapentti at the Australian Open on Monday.

Rios strolled to victory over the Ecuadorean 23rd seed in less than two hours to continue his best run at a major since he made the last eight at the 1999 French Open.

But the erratic Chilean was far from happy with his performance, saying he was still a long way off his best form.

"I used to play much better. Every time I compare myself with the Rios before, I think I was much better then," he said.

"When I was younger, I felt a lot better and I was able to recover quicker but nowadays I'm not that good at recovering."

Rios made the final of the Australian Open in 1998 and held the top ranking for six weeks later that year before a series of injuries derailed his career.

He had to pull out of the season-ending ATP Tour World Championship in 1998 but had an even worse run with injuries the following year, requiring groin surgery on top of a variety of strains and stress fractures.

Things started to look up for the left-hander in 2000 only for more problems to strike last year when he tore ligaments in his ankle, needing more surgery.

Finally injury-free, Rios has been in great form over this past week, dropping just one set in getting to the quarterfinals where he will face either Tommy Haas or Roger Federer.

He has produced some amazing trick shots over the past week, including shots behind his back, but the 26-year-old said he will need more than that if he wants to progress.

"This is not my best tennis. I have been playing pretty good, but I'm not consistent. I play one good match then I play 10 really bad," Rios said.

"I'm not concentrating when I need to be and I'm not giving it all when it is 5-1 or 5-0 but I'm much fitter right now.

"I'm feeling good on the court, I have no injuries and I'm just moving around pretty well."

 

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