Rusedski serves into the record books

The British No 2, Greg Rusedski, yesterday produced the fastest serve ever recorded as he reached the quarter-finals of the Peking Open. Serving at match point against the Frenchman Jean-Philippe Fleurian, he produced his 20th ace of the match at a speed of 139.8mph - 2.8mph faster than the previous record jointly held by Rusedski and Australia's Mark Philippoussis.

Rusedski, who won the match 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, said: "I knew when I hit it it would be close to or better than my previous fastest. I think the conditions in Asia are the fastest in the world. The ball speed through the air is definitely the fastest I have ever played."

Of the match, the left-hander added: "I really had to wait for my chance to turn it round. I let a close call in the first set tie-breaker get me a little too upset. But I turned a negative into a positive. I regrouped, settled down and found my rhythm in the second set."

Rusedski, who climbed to 75 in the world rankings on Monday, will now meet the Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, a player ranked 21 places below him, in the last eight. Michael Chang was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by the Czech Martin Damm yesterday.