Wilander Wins Decisively

Mats Wilander advanced to the Lipton Championships quarterfinals for the first time since 1988 by beating Jan Siemerink 6-4, 6-2.

“When you have taken a couple of years off, you start to realize you are not going to be able to compete in a professional sport for the rest of your life,” Wilander said. “Doing something that near to perfection is a feeling impossible to describe, and I think it is very hard to get that feeling in any other part of life.”

Wilander will next play fellow Vaxjo, Sweden, native Jonas Bjorkman.

Bjorkman advanced by beating Karsten Braasch 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. No. 2 seed Andre Agassi won the final five games to beat MaliVai Washington 6-3, 6-4. No. 8 Wayne Ferreira - the third-highest seed remaining - beat Todd Woodbridge 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-2.

In women’s play, No. 2 seed Steffi Graf, No. 3 Jana Novotna and No. 5 Gabriela Sabatini won easily. Rachel McQuillan, ranked 88th, upset No. 4 seed Lindsay Davenport 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.