Slow start, quick finish

Capriati rolls past Dominikovic into fourth round

Jennifer Capriati is looking to defend her French Open title. AP

PARIS (AP) -- Once she got her game going, Jennifer Capriati couldn't wait to pick up the ball and play the next point.

Overcoming a slow start and using a hurry-up offense Saturday, the defending champion raced into the fourth round of the French Open, taking just 52 minutes to beat Evie Dominikovic 6-3, 6-1.

"I do like to play quick," said Capriati, who won 11 of the final 12 games. "I really don't think about it, what pace I'm going. I don't think I rush."

Andre Agassi also rolled into the round of 16, as did Serena Williams.

Fourth-seeded Agassi cruised to a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 25 Tommy Robredo of Spain. No. 3 Williams, once again wearing an eye-catching outfit (this time, a black dress with gold shoes), beat Janette Husarova 6-1, 6-3 in front of a raucous crowd on one of the show courts at Roland Garros.

Second-seeded Marat Safin, animated as usual and talking to himself after nearly every point he lost, beat David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; and two-time semifinalist Juan Carlos Ferrero, showing no problems from a sore ankle, routed Guillermo Coria 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

Sebastien Grosjean made it three Frenchmen in the round of 16 for the first time since 1991 - joining Arnaud Di Pasquale and Paul-Henri Mathieu - by beating American Vince Spadea 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Top-seeded Capriati double faulted and committed three unforced errors to lose her serve on the very first game of the match.

She trailed 3-1 and faced a break point in the fifth game before a service winner saved her and sent her on her way.

Capriati, who next faces No. 20 Patty Schnyder, will lose the No. 1 ranking to Venus Williams, regardless of how the French Open plays out.

"I'm pretty much used to it changing like that. I don't even pay attention. It goes to show you how bizarre it is if you win a Grand Slam and you're not even No. 1," said Capriati, who won the Australian Open in January.

"If you win the two of the year so far, you're not No. 1? That doesn't make any sense."

With his wife, Steffi Graf, watching from the stands, Agassi fought off three break points in the 10th game to win the second set and breezed in the third.

It was a matchup between the oldest remaining man, Agassi (32), and the youngest, Robredo, who turned 20 on May 1.

Who looked more winded after some of the match's long rallies? Not Agassi.

"My game is to control the points," Agassi said. "I think some of those, he was getting the worst of it."

Agassi's next opponent is Mathieu, who upset No. 14 Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 Saturday.

Schnyder beat No. 14 Iroda Tulyaganova, 7-5, 7-6 (6). Also making the round of 16 were seventh-seeded Jelena Dokic, who took a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Elena Likhovtseva, and No. 9 Silvia Farina Elia, a 6-0, 7-6 (6) winner over Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Serena Williams will next play qualifier Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5.

Also advancing was 2000 champion Mary Pierce, who ousted Aniko Kapros 6-3, 6-0. Kapros beat fifth-seeded Justine Henin in the first round.

 

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