Roddick marches into Clay Court quarters

NEW YORK, Apr 13 (Reuters) Defending champion and top seed Andy Roddick swept past Austria's Oliver Marach 6-3 6-4 at the US Clay Court Championships in Houston, setting up a quarter-final clash with in-form German Tommy Haas.

Roddick, who has reached the finals in Houston for five consecutive years, won convincingly for the second straight day but said he would welcome a day off before facing fifth seed Haas.

''I was a little low on energy...I wasn't expecting to play back-to-back,'' Roddick told the ATP Web site yesterday. ''I'll be glad to have a day off tomorrow before playing Tommy on Friday.'' Roddick, who is still chasing his first title of the season, has won the US Clay Court crown three times, compiling a record of 25-2 on the Houston clay.

Haas, however, is enjoying the ATP Tour's spring swing through the US having already picked up titles in Delray Beach and Memphis.

The former-world number two advanced with a 6-1 7-6 win over compatriot Alexander Waske.

Haas, who defeated Roddick to lift the US Clay Court title in 2004, easily took the opening set but went 2-5 down in the second before rallying to win in a tie-break.

In first round action, fourth seed and Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who accepted a wild card to play the event, advanced with a 6-4 7-6 win over American Jesse Witten.

Jet-lagged Baghdatis also went down 2-5 in the second before recovering to close out the match in straight sets.

''I was a bit tired so I'm very satisfied to get through in two sets,'' said Baghdatis. ''If I went to a third set it would have been tough, so I fought very hard to win the second set.'' REUTERS PM RAI1211