TORONTO — David Nalbandian of Argentina upset No. 4 seed Tim Henman of Britain 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the third round of the Tennis Masters Canada Thursday.

        Nalbandian, whose trip to the Wimbledon final against Lleyton Hewitt last month took the tennis world by surprise, is proving he is a player to reckoned with.

        “I hope the people know me a little bit more,” Nalbandian said with a grin. “I like it. After the Wimbledon final, the people were different with me. At first nobody knows me, and then somebody knows me.”

        In other singles matches, No. 2 seed Marat Safin of Russia edged Marcelo Rios of Chile, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3); No.3 seed Tommy Haas of Germany beat Pete Sampras 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5); Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic ousted unseeded American Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-3; Fabrice Santoro of France defeated American Todd Martin 6-2, 6-4; and Guillermo Canas of Argentina topped No. 5 seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-2, 6-2.

        Nalbandian survived three match points in the second set against Henman, in a match that lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes - the second-longest of the tournament so far - in sweltering heat at the National Tennis Centre at York University.

        Haas fired 24 aces in ousting Sampras, leaving the American without a tournament title in over two years.

        Sampras, a former world No.1, hasn't won in the 30 tournaments he has played since becoming Wimbledon champion in 2000.

        “It's been a frustrating year, but I still feel like I've got the game,” Sampras said. “Hopefully, one week it's going to click.”

        Haas also believes Sampras still has good tennis left in him.

        “He's probably not at his best, but I think he played really good tennis and I think he's on his way back to be very dangerous,” Haas said.

        AGASSI UPDATE: Andre Agassi, who pulled out of this week's Tennis Masters Series Toronto, is expected to play in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, which begins Monday at the ATP Tennis Center in Mason.

        Agassi, who won the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles on Sunday, cited a lower back and hip injury.

        “He's feeling better,” Perry Rogers, Agassi's business manager and close friend, said Thursday. “I talked to him today. He's definitely playing (in Cincinnati). I heard he was coming tomorrow.”

        ACURA CLASSIC: Top-seeded Venus Williams and No.2 Jennifer Capriati scored one-sided victories Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic.

        Also advancing with third-round victories were No.5 Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, seeking her first WTA tournament victory; and Ai Sugiyama.

        Williams beat No. 15 Anne Kremer 6-3, 6-2, and Capriati rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 13 Meghann Shaughnessy.

        Clijsters beat No.10 Magdalena Maleeva 6-3, 6-3; Kournikova

        beat Conchita Martinez 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, and Sugiyama downed Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 7-6 (4).

        In today's quarterfinals, Williams will play Clijsters, Capriati meets No.6 Jelena Dokic, and Kournikova faces No.12 Anna Smashnova.

        Williams, the two-time defending champion, said her serve was better against Kremer than in her first match at the tournament - a 6-4, 6-1 win over Janette Husarova.

        “She put a lot of balls back in play, so I had to be consistent today,” Williams said.

        After being routed in the first set, Kournikova rallied to easily win the second and kept the momentum going in the third.

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