Muster Proving Hard to Beat on Hardcourts

King of clay Thomas Muster jokes that when he visits Florida, his favorite surface is sand.

The Lipton Championships are played on hardcourts, but Muster turned the fourth round into a day at the beach Tuesday, beating Alex Corretja, 6-4, 6-4.

Winning Lipton would represent a breakthrough for Muster. All but three of his 43 career titles have come on clay, saddling him with a reputation as a one-surface specialist.

“I don’t care,” the second-ranked Austrian said. “I think I’ve played well enough that people realize I can play on hardcourts. I don’t think I have to prove anything to anybody at all.”

Muster’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be Swede Jonas Bjorkman, who advanced by beating Australian Mark Philippoussis, 6-3, 6-4.

Top-ranked Pete Sampras, who could meet Muster in Sunday’s final, blitzed Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 6-2, 6-0.

“I really played unbelievable tennis for the most part,” Sampras said. “I served well, got off to a good start and he got a little down on himself. It was a smooth day.”

Sampras, 20-1 this year, has lost only 13 games in his three matches at Lipton. His quarterfinal opponent will be Hendrik Dreekmann of Germany.

Fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic, a possible semifinal opponent for Muster, beat 19-year-old Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4. Spaniard Sergi Bruguera and Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine also advanced.

In women’s play, Monica Seles won her fourth match in five days, rallying past Irina Spirlea of Romania, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Her opponent in the semifinals will be Austrian Barbara Paulus, who beat Sandrine Testud of France, 6-3, 6-3.

Seles, coming back from a broken finger, is playing her first hardcourt tournament since the U.S. Open seven months ago.