MASON — Talk about your changing of the guard. For the first time since 1988, neither Pete Sampras nor Andre Agassi will be playing in the Round of 16 here — except 1994 when neither played in the event.

WHO'S LEFT

No.1 seed Gustavo Kuerten (Ernest Coleman photo)   Round of 16 • Keifer vs. Henman • Rafter vs. Blake • A. Martin vs. Kafelnikov • Koubek vs. Rusedski • Hewitt vs. Mirnyi • Canis vs. Gambill • Kuerten vs. Ivanisevic • Ljubicic vs. Arazi

TODAY'S GUIDE

• Schedule, results   • Tickets: 11 a.m., 7 p.m. ($24); Call 651-0303 or TicketMaster at 562-4949.   • Television: 1-3 p.m., ESPN (live); 8-10 p.m., ESPN2 (live)   • The bracket   • More Masters facts

        No.1 Gustavo Kuerten is the only one of the top four seeds remaining at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati.

        Only six seeds have won their first two matches, including No.5 (Lleyton Hewitt), No.6 (Yevgeny Kafelnikov), No.7 (Tim Henman), No.8 (Patrick Rafter) and No.14 Goran Ivanisevic.

        “Rafter's serve will be tough to break with that big kick,” Sampras said. “It will be bouncing up pretty high. Kuerten, obviously, he's playing well. I'd look at one of those two guys carrying through to the weekend.”

        Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero and three-time champion Sampras were ousted Wednesday, along with No.10 Arnaud Clement and No.13 Carlos Moya. Also losing Wednesday night: two-time champion Michael Chang.

        The marquee match today will be Kuerten against Ivanisevic, the Wimbledon winner (7 p.m., Stadium Court).

        “I have to serve well and play like I did today and the other day,” Ivanisevic said. “I have to do what I am doing better than him, serving and coming to the net.”

        Said Kuerten: “Maybe he's going to hit 12, 15, 20 aces. Some games you're not going to touch the ball, so you got to be ready and not get frustrated. I think that's the way it's going to be.”

        There are more wild cards (Ivanisevic, James Blake) and qualifiers (Ivan Ljubicic, Stefan Koubek) remaining than former champions (Rafter).

        There are as many Croatians (Ivanisevic, Ljubicic) as Americans (Blake, Jan-Michael Gambill).

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