Agassi sets up Hewitt clash, Roddick through

Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt will renew their rivalry in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters after both scored wins on Thursday.

Hewitt fought back from a set down before beating Finland's Jarrko Nieminen 2-6 6-2 6-3 while Agassi eased past Thomas Enqvist 6-4 7-5 in his third round match.

Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero were the day's other big name winners.

Agassi started brightly, breaking mid-way through the first set but Enqvist fought back from an early break down in the second to make the American work hard.

He broke again at 5-5 to finally put the stubborn Swede away.

"He takes his chances so those games when he gets some good work on the ball, anything can happen," said former world number one Agassi.

Hewitt has a winning record over Agassi and the seven-time grand slam champion said he will have to be on form to have any chance against the young Australian.

"The guy's been playing the best tennis in the world for a while now so to go out and play anything less than my best stuff just isn't going to get the job done," he said.

Having cruised through the first two rounds without the loss of a game, Hewitt found himself pinned back in the first set as he entered unknown territory in his match against Nieminen.

"I've never seen him play before," said the U.S. and Wimbledon champion.

"He was mixing it up well and I couldn't really work it out. It took me a while to get into the match.

"It's nice though, after having an easy time of it, to get a tough, competitive match."

Hewitt, who had spent just 59 minutes on court in his first two matches, looked out of sorts from the start against Nieminen.

UNCHARESTIC ERRORS

Despite Hewitt's reputation for consistency, it was the Finn who looked more solid in the early stages and he made the most of the uncharacteristic errors from Hewitt.

The top seed knuckled down in the second set, breaking serve twice and holding his own with ease.

A break in the in his opening service game of the third set effectively ended any challenge from the Finn.

The bad news for Hewitt is half of the $57,000 dollars he has earned at the event so far will go to the ATP in fines.

The governing body of men's tennis is punishing Hewitt for not completing his media commitments at the event and can dock him either $20,000 or half his total prize money for the week, whichever is greater.

If Hewitt wins the tournament he could be liable for $196,000 although he plans to appeal against his punishment.

HOT RODDICK

Andy Roddick's hot streak of form continued with a 56-minute, 6-3 6-2 rout of Wayne Ferreira.

The 19-year-old reached the final of the Canadian Masters last week and says he is full of confidence at the moment.

"I feel good, more than anything I'm really focused and I'm having fun out there," he said.

"I played solid throughout. I played maybe one sloppy game but otherwise it was pretty clean. I knew I needed to play better than I did in my first two matches and I did that."

Roddick now meets world numer 39 Fernando Gonzalez in the last eight after the Chilean knocked out 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Germany's Rainer Schuettler is also through to the last eight after he beat Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-3.

Schuettler will take on Carlos Moya in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard defeated Michael Chang 6-4 6-3.

Chang's run at the Cincinnati Masters was the first time in nearly a year that he had won back-to-back matches.

Eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero survived a scare at the hands of America's Taylor Dent, the Spaniard eventually coming through 6-7 6-1 7-6.

Ferrero now plays Wayne Arthurs in the last eight.

The Australian, who came through qualifying to beat Pete Sampras on Wednesday, ousted Spain's Tommy Robredo 7-6 4-6 6-4.

Coming in to the tournament, Arthurs had only won two main draw matches in seven career Masters Series tournaments.