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Becker, Kuerten, Agassi in last 16

Three-time champion Boris Becker maintained his winning streak at Wimbledon.

The 32-year-old German, who is in semi-retirement, returned to Centre Court today and came up with an awesome display of serve and volley tennis to quell the challenge of Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt and enter the last 16 of the men's singles.

Becker won 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(7-5), to follow Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten into the next round.

A little while before Becker could beat the 19-year-old Australian sensation, fourth seed Agassi, though dropped a set, easily beat Alberto Martin of Spain 6-2, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, and Kuerten accounted for Yugoslav qualifier Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

The 11th seeded Kuerten thus became the first Brazilian to reach the last 16 here in the open era.

The 20-year-old, who had never won a match on grass till he came to Wimbledon, came out of nowhere in 1997 to win the French Open. At 66, he was the lowest ranked player ever to capture a Grand Slam.

Brazilian fans chanted "Gu-Ga" and Kuerten smiled in delight at his own virtuosity on the lightning-fast number two court. He hit the ball with immense power and yet showed a delicate touch when mixing up his shots.

One break was all he needed to win the first two sets. The 22-year-old Brazilian then slipped into a different gear, leaving Zimonjic flat-footed and dispirited in the third set.

Third seed Lindsay Davenport and ninth seed Mary Pierce cruised through to the last 16 of the women's singles on Saturday, but Julie Halard-Decugis of France, seeded 11, was shocked by American teenager Alexandra Stevenson.

Pierce beat Elena Wagner of France 6-3, 6-0, while Davenport got the better of Laura Golarsa 6-3, 6-2.

Hitting strongly from the baseline, Stevenson often caught her French opponent on the wrong foot with deep returns and deceptive net play.

Stevenson is playing in her first tournament as a professional and said her goal since the age of nine was to win Wimbledon by the age of 19.

She now meets Lisa Raymond, who beat former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez of Spain 6-3, 6-1.

Davenport has reached the quarter-finals twice here, including last year. With Martina Hingis out of the way in her half of the draw Davenport, who has dropped just 12 games in three matches,feels there is no reason she should not go all the way.

Seles, Kafelnikov bow out

Yesterday, Mirjana Lucic, ranked 134th in the world, shattered Monica Seles's dreams of winning Wimbledon, the one Grand Slam title to elude her, yesterday.

The Croatian girl displayed top class tennis as she disposed off the American fourth 7-6, 7-6 to enter the last 16 of the women's singles.

Seles was one of three top women to fall by the wayside as 13th seed Sandrine Testud of France lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand and South Africa's Amanda Coetzer, seeded 12, was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by 16-year-old Kim Clijsters.

A finalist here in 1992, Seles lost a spectacular and sometimes strange match in which Lucic, ranked 134th in the world, won the first set against the run of play. She won only one point in Seles's first six service games and struggled to hold her own serve, but then opened a 6-0 lead in the tie-break. Seles saved four set points before Lucic won it 7-4.

The second set saw some impressive hitting, but Lucic always looked the stronger. She out-blasted her Serbian-born opponent and won the tie-break by 7-4 to clinch a place in the fourth round against Tanasugarn.

The men's draw was also robbed of one of its biggest names when Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, seeded third, was forced to retire because of a thigh injury in the third set of his match with Frenchman Cedric Pioline, a finalist here in 1997.

Kafelnikov, winner of the Australian Open and world number one earlier this year, said he had pulled a hamstring in his right leg in the fourth game of the first set, which he won.

Second seed Steffi Graf's forehand blew away American Corina Morariu 6-1 6-3 and Venus Williams, last year's finalist Nathalie Tauziat and Anna Kournikova also scored easy wins.

Williams, seeded sixth, dropped just two games against Sarah Pitkowski of France as did Tauziat of France against Seda Noorlander of The Netherlands.

Williams now plays 17th seed Kournikova after injury forced Ines Gorrochategui of Argentina to retire with the Russian leading 7-5 3-1.

Agencies