Tennis: I wasn't under-cooked says Serena

A defiant Serena Williams says her lack of preparation is not to blame for her defeat by world No 1 Amelie Mauresmo at the US Open yesterday.

The American, champion in 1999 and 2002, exited the event in the last 16 for the second year running, beaten 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 by top seed Mauresmo.

Mauresmo showed grit, fearlessness and poise to stage a dramatic final-set recovery.

The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion entered the match with a 1-9 record against Williams and with a long history of wilting under pressure, but she recovered from a second-set disaster in a big way.

"I just tried to leave it behind me," Mauresmo said of the second set. "Maybe in these situations before I would have acted differently in the third set."

Williams went into the US Open having played just three events this year due to a left knee injury and with her ranking hovering just inside the top 100.

She bristled at suggestions she had not prepared well enough.

"I don't think it was a factor," she said. "I think I could have come out on top had I made a few more shots and had I just been a bit more consistent.

"I just don't think I played well tonight. I think if I would have played the way I played yesterday or my first-or second-round match, the results would have been different.

"Whether that's a lack of match play, I'm not one to make excuses. I think it just boiled down to me not playing as well as I did in all my other matches. That's the bottom line."

Williams said Mauresmo's tactics of blocking her serves back into play had worn her down in the end.

Since winning last year's Australian Open, Williams has not been past the fourth round in any grand slam event.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in a pulsating late-night fourth-round battle.

In a match that finished after midnight, the Australian let slip a two-set lead to an inspired Gasquet but hit back to set up a quarter-final against American Andy Roddick.

"It was hard work for both of us," Hewitt said.

"He is a young guy on the rise. I was very wary coming out here tonight. This is where it all started for me, at grand slams, so it's good to get through to another quarter-final."

Gasquet said he had given it his all.

Hewitt, the 2001 champion, eased through the first two sets before Gasquet roared back to level thanks to a series of crushing groundstrokes.

With Gasquet struggling with cramp in the fifth set, Hewitt broke in the second game and served out to clinch victory after 3 hours 33 minutes.

In other action yesterday:

* Second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, seeking her second US Open crown, breezed past Israel's Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-0 in just 50 minutes.

* No 3 Maria Sharapova booked a spot in the last eight with a straight-sets victory over China's Li Na 6-4, 6-2. Sharapova plays Tatiana Golovin, of France, for a place in the semifinals.

* Former Open champion and 10th seed Lindsay Davenport blasted 35 winners to oust seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in her fourth-round match.

* A day after sending the great Andre Agassi into retirement, 112th ranked Benjamin Becker of Germany committed 39 unforced errors and was eliminated 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 by ninth seed Andy Roddick.

* Second seed Rafael Nadal reached the quarters for the first time by blasting 46 winners to sweep past Czech Jiri Novak 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 in a two-hour-and-10-minute match.

Today's big matches (from 11am)

Women's quarter-finals

10-L. Davenport (US) v 2-J. Henin-Hardenne (Bel)

Men's fourth round

1-R. Federer (Sui) v M. Gicquel (Fra)

- REUTERS