Mardy Fish continued the upsets during the second round of the Kroger St. Jude when he came back to defeat second seed Paradorn Srichaphan.

Srichaphan came within two points of victory three times during the second set, but Fish held on before winning 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-1 in 2 hours, 17 minutes and reach his second quarterfinal of the year (Sydney).

"It's a great win for me," said Fish, who also reached the third round at the Australian Open. "Paradorn had a great year last year, so along with my wins over Moya this [in Sydney and Melbourne], I'm really happy with the way this year is going for me. It's very satisfying to know the hard work is paying off."

With both players battling from the baseline Srichaphan looked the more likely to progress as he earned himself a break point leading 3-2 in the second set, and coming within two points of victory at 5-4 and 6-5. But Fish would not go lie down, and a double fault from the Thai star on set point in the second set tie-break gave the American the chance he needed.

"We were both having a lot of fun out there, and we were playing some awesome points," said Fish. "It was a shame for Paradorn to finish the set on a double fault, but I'll take it - I was feeling tired at that stage."

Srichaphan, ever gracious in defeat, said: "It was a great match. Mardy played well today, and served very well, especially in the third set when everything came together for him and didn't make many mistakes.

"We were both enjoying the match today, and when he's relaxed on court, he plays a lot better."
Fish now takes on Vincent Spadea for a place in the last four.

Dent Blasts His Way Through

Taylor Dent moved through to his first quarterfinal since winning the title in Newport last July after he defeated No. 5 seed Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6(8), 7-6(4).

Dent served 16 aces and now faces Vladimir Voltchkov for a place in the semifinals.

"It was a pretty good match," said Dent. "I won that one the tough way. It's never fun for the other guy to not lose his serve but still lose the match. I've been there before. I took care of my serve and got lucky in the tie-breaks."

Dent, who had lost all three of his matches before coming into Memphis, and all four of his previous tie-breaks this year, has now won three in a row including his marathon 17-15 against Mark Philippoussis in the first round.

"I think confidence has a bit to do with [winning the tie-breaks]," said Dent. "I've kept my mental concentration this week and hopefully I can keep going. I've been working a lot on my fitness with my coach [Brad Stine] and have been trying to lose some weight. I've lost about 10 pounds and it's starting to pay off."

Gambill, who lost to Dent in the second round at Wimbledon last year, said: "It's hard to be extremely hard on yourself after a match like that. That was the best he's ever served against me and he volleyed very well today. He didn't give me too many opportunities, while I let him chip and charge too many times, which he does very well."