LOS ANGELES — If Andre Agassi had his way, he wouldn't play Gustavo Kuerten in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup. He'd like to save it until the semifinals or final. “It's going to be great,” Agassi said before facing the Brazilian late Friday. “It's always explosive when we play. We're both looking to control the points and be the aggressor.”

        Agassi, the defending champ who is seeded No. 2, beat Kuerten in three sets in last year's semifinal in Los Angeles. He holds a 6-4 career advantage over him, including a 5-4 edge on hardcourts.

        BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: Second-seeded Davenport defeated No. 5 Jelena Dokic 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Stanford, Calif., and looked as comfortable as she did in earning the world's top ranking before a right knee injury ended her season last year. Davenport will face fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters, who beat wild card Jelena Jankovic, 7-5, 6-3, in today's semifinals.

        No. 3 Monica Seles played unseeded Lisa Raymond and top-seeded Venus Williams met Anna Kournikova later Friday night.

        PROKOM OPEN: Carlos Moya beat Stefano Galvani 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the clay-court semifinals at Sopot, Poland, with his career-best 13th straight ATP Tour victory. Moya won tournaments on clay in Bastad and Umag this month.

        The women's final today will be between Henrieta Nagyova and qualifier Dinara Safina, 16, younger sister of 2000 U.S. Open champion Marat Safin. Nagyova beat Tathiana Garbin 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2), and Safina got by Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2.

        GENERALI OPEN: French Open champion Albert Costa lost his bid for a fourth straight title at Kitzbuehel, Austria, falling 6-1, 6-2 to Alex Corretja in a quarterfinal match.

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