Hewitt, Safin survive but Sampras stumbles
Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin survived third round scares at the Nasdaq-100 Open ATP Masters on Monday but Pete Sampras's nightmare continued as the 13-time Grand Slam winner crashed out 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 to Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez.
World No. 1 Hewitt dropped the opening set to Jan-Michael Gambill but rallied to beat his American rival 3-6 6-4 7-5 and extend his winning streak on U.S. soil to 20 matches, a run stretching back to the Australian's U.S. Open victory last year.
Sixth seed Safin needed all his experience and a bit of luck to tame Peruvian qualifier Luis Horna 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Horna, who has spent most of the season on the Challenger circuit and had not won an ATP Tour match until arriving in Miami, took his Russian opponent to the brink of elimination before cracking under the pressure of a third set tiebreak.
Fourth seed Tommy Haas of Germany lost the battle of the tiebreaks with Romania's Andrei Pavel 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6), leaving Britain's Tim Henman, at number five, the top remaining seed behind doubles partner Hewitt.
After a confidence-boosting run to the Indian Wells final last week, Henman has made steady progress in Miami, easing into the fourth round with a workmanlike 7-5 6-4 victory over Spain's Felix Mantilla.
The winner of back-to-back tournaments and unbeaten since a bout of chickenpox sent him reeling at the Australian Open in January, Hewitt was braced for a tough match against Gambill, who had beaten him in three of their six career meetings.
But once again the tenacious Australian would not be denied, breaking Gambill to close out the match and claim his third consecutive win over the American -- all coming in the last month.
INCREDIBLE TENNIS
"Jan-Michael always starts well," said Hewitt, who will play another American James Blake in the fourth round. "I tried to get off to a good start and was able to break first but he played incredible tennis the whole first set.
"I just hung in there like I always do and in the end it paid off."
After fighting his way through to the semifinals at Indian Wells under the guidance of new coach Jose Higueras, an enthusiastic Sampras arrived in Miami, an event he has won three times, expecting to keep up his momentum.
But Sampras's recent good form deserted him on the Miami hardcourts, the defeat extending his agonising title drought to 24 tournaments.
"There's no comfort or cushion after getting beat the way I did today," said Sampras, who has not tasted a title victory since lifting his seventh Wimbledon crown nearly two years ago.
"I just have to get back to work. I need to get back in good tennis shape and get back on the practice court.
"I want to continue, I want to get better. Losing is something I don't ever like. There's not comfort in it."
After narrowly beating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the second round, Sampras could find no way past the 62nd-ranked Chilean, who last season won just five matches and none against players ranked in the top 100.
Sampras made the best possible start, breaking Gonzalez at the first opportunity to surge into a 4-1 lead.
But the Chilean broke back at 4-3 and the set drifted to a tiebreak which Gonzalez easily won.
A deflated Sampras was unable to rebound from the disappointment as Gonzalez roared into a 5-0 lead in the second set before closing out the match with a thundering ace.
