MELBOURNE, Australia -- Pete Sampras doesn't have to contend with Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt or several other contenders long gone from the Australian Open.

	Pete Sampras wasted seven match points, but finally capitalized in a match that ended around breaskfast-time on the East Coast.

Still, Sampras' drive for a 14th Grand Slam tournament title is far from easy.

He squandered seven match points and needed nearly 4 hours to get past Nicolas Escude 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the third round Saturday.

Pistol Pete's reward for that tough victory? A fourth-round meeting with No. 9 Marat Safin, who beat Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final. They're the only two men left in the tournament who have won a major title.

Other fourth-round matches in their half of the draw have former No. 1 Marcelo Rios against Nicolas Lapentti, Roger Federer against Tommy Haas, and Albert Costa against Wayne Ferreira.

Despite the grueling outing against the 30th-seeded Escude, No. 8 Sampras said, "I feel pretty good. That training I put in during the off-season was well worth it."

He is striving for his first title in 1½ years (2000 Wimbledon) -- last year was Sampras' first without winning a tournament since 1989.

His chances have looked good in Australia, especially after Agassi pulled out with a wrist injury and Hewitt lost in the first round. A series of big-name dropouts, in fact, has left Sampras as the third-highest-seeded man still around, after No. 6 Tim Henman and No. 7 Haas.

Sampras needed all of the patience and experience he's gathered over the years to eliminate Escude, who has a history of success in long matches.

At the 1998 Australian Open, Escude came back three times from two-sets-to-none deficits on his way to the semifinals. He overcame that same hole in his second-round match this year against Alex Calatrava.

Escude has said he patterned his serve-and-volley tactics after Sampras' game, and the two men quietly went on with their first meeting in almost mirror-image fashion. Sampras came to the net 117 times, winning 67 points; Escude came in 105 times, winning 69.

The match was interrupted twice by bugs on the court apparently setting off the machine that detects serves going beyond the service line.

Sampras said his experience helped in the fifth set.

"It's just being out there in a lot of big matches," he said. "When I was younger, it might have taken me a few matches to recover from that. It's a matter of keeping your composure, and I think I did that pretty well."

In other men's action, Haas advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday, but needed to work extremely hard to make it there.

Haas outlasted Todd Martin, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a match that lasted nearly four hours.

Haas and Martin were involved in a heated exchange after their marathon match.

The pair argued with each other for almost a minute after the fluctuating match before finally shaking hands and leaving the court.

Haas, who staged a mighty comeback to win, was upset that Martin questioned him over why he took a break in the fifth set to have his ankle taped when he did not appear to be injured.

Haas took offence at Martin's remark, telling the American he wanted his ankle strapped as a precaution because he twisted the same foot during a tournament last year.

"He made a statement in the fifth set because I was running so well," Haas said.

Martin, a former president of the ATP Player's Council and one of the most respected players in the game, said his comment was made in jest but Haas had misunderstood him.

"He ran down a few balls that I couldn't believe he got to, even if he was healthy, so I gave him a little hard time," Martin said.

"I said: 'are you sure your ankle is okay?', and he, like everybody else, doesn't understand my sense of humor, I guess."

Martin, a finalist at the Australian Open eight years ago, looked to have the match under control when he grabbed a two sets to one lead only to fade in the scorching heat.

Rios also advanced, beating Alberto Martin with a behind-the-back service return, a crucial underhand volley and steady play.

	Marcelo Rios connects for a backhand volley during his third-round victory.

Rios, the former top-ranked player who had not reached a Grand Slam tournament's round of 16 since the 1999 U.S. Open, kept Martin on the run in a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory.

The 21-year-old Safin closed out Youzhny with an ace -- his 12th -- and had 36 winners compared to his opponent's 16.

Federer, seeded 11th but now the No. 5 player in the field after a rash of early injuries and upsets, defeated Germany's Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Lapentti rallied for a 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Argentina's Gaston Gaudio in 4 hours, 11 minutes. Gaudio, a first-round loser in his last six Grand Slam events, had reached the third round here by upsetting No. 15 Arnaud Clement, last year's Australian Open runner-up to Andre Agassi.

Alberto Martin, who ousted top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, was threatening a comeback in the third set.

He held serve for a 6-5 lead despite a stunning return by Rios, who was leaning the wrong way, spun around and accidentally blocked the ball with the racket behind his back. Martin rushed in for the short return but hit a forehand into the net.

"I've got to see that on TV tonight," Rios said.

In the next game, Rios saved three set points to reach 6-6.

In the tiebreaker, he gained match point with a two-hand, underhand reflex volley when Martin blasted a backhand at his feet from short range. He won when Martin netted a forehand serve return.

Rios was the 1998 Australian Open runner-up to Petr Korda, but has been set back by a series of injuries. He had surgery on his left ankle surgery last June.

After a week of cool weather, hot summer temperatures returned to Melbourne on Saturday, and Rios said he was tired and in danger of cramping.

"I think I played pretty good at the important moments," he said. "I'm not hitting the ball as clean as I used to, and I'm missing more than I used to, but my game is more mature."

Compatriot Fernando Gonzalez, a qualifier, also has reached the fourth round, and Rios was asked about the possibility of an all-Chilean final.

"That's what we're looking for," he said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.