Wed Jan 2 14:54:29 2008

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Mathieu reaches Adelaide QFs

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Adelaide, Australia (Sports Network) - Second-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners at the Adelaide International tennis event.

Mathieu came from behind to beat heavy Aussie crowd favorite Chris Guccione 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 93 minutes on the hardcourts at Memorial Drive. The wild card Guccione, who lost despite firing 24 aces at Mathieu, was last year's runner-up here to Serbian star Novak Djokovic.

The 25-year-old Mathieu's quarterfinal opponent will be another Aussie wild card, Joseph Sirianni, who dismissed American Sam Querrey 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-3 on Day 3 here. The 32-year-old Sirianni will appear in his first-ever ATP quarterfinal.

In other second-round action, German Benjamin Becker handled American Michael Russell 6-4, 6-4 and Frenchman Michael Llodra got past Russian Evgeny Korolev 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 at this Australian Open tune-up. Becker and the 2004 Adelaide runner-up Llodra will tangle in the round of eight here on Friday.

On Thursday, Adelaide native Lleyton Hewitt will face Argentine Jose Acasuso in a second-rounder. The former world No. 1 Hewitt is a two-time champion at his hometown tournament.