AUSTRALIAN OPEN Safin knocks out Andy Roddick

Andre Agassi advanced to the semifinals when his opponent defaulted.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Marat Safin celebrated his 24th birthday with an upset win over top-ranked Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Safin's 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (0), 6-4 win over Roddick today provided a dramatic end to a day in which the busiest people at the tournament were the doctors and trainers.
Defending champion Andre Agassi earned a semifinal berth when ninth-seeded Sebastien Grosjean defaulted with a groin injury after losing the first set. Agassi, in pursuit of his fifth Australian Open title and ninth Grand Slam crown, will face Safin in the semifinals.
Amelie Mauresmo, the fourth-seeded woman, didn't even start, defaulting in tears with a torn back muscle and handing No. 32 Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia a free pass to the semifinals.
Zuluaga will face top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne, who ousted fifth-seeded Lindsay Davenport 7-5, 6-3. Neither was in top form, but Henin-Hardenne managed to win the big points, as she did last year when she beat Davenport 9-7 in the third set.
Safin was unseeded and ranked 86th. In last year's Australian Open, he tore ligaments in his left wrist during a first-round match. This time, he rallied from a slow start against the 21-year-old Roddick and showed that his skills haven't eroded.
"I'm back, that's the most important thing," Safin said.
Long match
For nearly 31/2 hours, Safin and Roddick matched ace for ace and swapped line drives in long baseline rallies.
Safin's underdog status won over much of the crowd as he came back after losing the first set while making 18 unforced errors. But Roddick had his own fervent fans, including a trio of young men in star-adorned red, white and blue skirts and "U," "S" and "A" painted on their bare chests on a cool night.
Safin called for a trainer, who massaged the inside of his left thigh, after the first and third games of the second set, but didn't seem to be bothered afterward.
Safin broke Roddick's serve for the second time to finish off the set. The American fended off two set points while fighting back from 0-40, then watched as Safin's return of a 125 mph serve caught the line at his feet.
There were no break opportunities in the third set until Roddick made four errors while serving at 5-6.
Roddick evened the match by winning the fourth-set tie-breaker 7-0 as Safin suddenly went cold.
Finally, at 4-4 in the fifth set, Roddick blinked, netting a backhand at 15-30, then tapping a forehand volley into the net to hand Safin the break.
Safin fought back from 15-40 the next game, finishing off the match with a pair of forehand volley winners.
Roddick smashed his racket, bending the frame.
He left the court just before the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Safin.
Win streak
Agassi extended his win streak to 26 matches at the Australian Open, spanning championships in 2000, '01 and last season. He sat out 2002 after wrist surgery.
The 33-year-old Agassi noticed Grosjean, a semifinalist in 2001, was going for low-percentage shots late in the first set but didn't know the Frenchman was injured.
Agassi took the first four games, won the set 6-2 and pulled ahead 2-0 in the second when Grosjean, who was out eight weeks last year with the same injury, defaulted.
"That's not a good way for anything to end," Agassi said. "It's been a great week for Sebastien, it's unfortunate. He'd appreciate everyone's understanding."
Henin-Hardenne, the French and U.S. Open champion, lost the opening four games before winning seven of the next eight to take the first set in 52 minutes.
"That wasn't easy. Lindsay was playing unbelievable at the start. I wasn't ready for that," Henin-Hardenne said. "I played every point as best I could. I came back in the set and that gives me confidence."
Davenport lost only one point in her first two service games, but ended with 33 unforced errors as her forehand failed in the long rallies. The loss left Lisa Raymond as the only American woman remaining in singles.
Davenport was broken while serving for the first set at 5-3 and had triple set-point against Henin-Hardenne's serve in the next game but missed consecutive backhand returns and then hit a forehand that floated long.