MELBOURNE, Australia -- Anna Kournikova says it "feels like yesterday" that she last made the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam.

Even if the gap was 3½ years.

"Time flies, huh!" Kournikova said after reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. The last time she made it this deep into a major was the summer of 1997, when she was a semifinalist at Wimbledon.

	The photogenic Anna Kournikova of Russia has yet to win a WTA tournament.

Kournikova advanced to the Australian Open quarters Sunday with a 6-3, 6-1 win over unseeded Barbara Rittner. She now faces Lindsay Davenport, the defending titlist and No. 2 seed.

"Me and Lindsay, we've had some tough matches ... (but) I have a good record against her. I've beaten her a few times," Kournikova said. "I'm not playing at my best right now but I will go out there and fight as much as I can -- we'll see what happens."

Davenport, a winner of three Grand Slam titles and a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, has a 5-3 lead in head-to-head play against Kournikova, including a 6-2, 6-2 sweep in the fourth round of the Australian Open a year ago.

A singles title still eludes Kournikova, although she finished 1998 as the world's No. 1-ranked doubles player and lifted the Australian Open doubles crown with Martina Hingis the following year.

Kournikova burst onto the pro tour by making the fourth round at the U.S. Open in 1996. The following year, as a 16-year-old, she became only the second woman in the Open era to reach the semis on her debut at Wimbledon; Chris Evert was the first in 1972.

At Wimbledon, she upset No. 5 seed Iva Majoli in the quarters and No. 10 Anke Huber in the third round after rallying from match point down in the second round against Rittner.

Rittner almost took revenge Sunday, running Kournikova all around the court to take a 3-1 lead.

But Kournikova calmed herself and, after breaking back, held serve to level at 3-3 when she picked up a low half-volley and produced a forehand winner down the line. The sixth game had gone to deuce nine times.

She broke Rittner at love in the next game and dominated the remainder of the match.

"I'm definitely happy with the result, and it's great to be playing so well at a Grand Slam again," she said.

Kournikova has made the fourth round at a Grand Slam on seven occasions, each time losing to a seeded player. At Melbourne Park, she said she finally got the luck of the draw.

"Every time I got to the fourth round, I wasn't really seeded or I always played higher-ranked players," she said. "I lost to Lindsay here before, Mary (Pierce) and Martina (Hingis) and so I've always lost to the players that were, you know, either winners or got far."

Davenport, who beat No. 15-seeded Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-0, said she was starting to feel excited going into the second week and anticipated a difficult clash against Kournikova.

"Getting through the round of 16 is a big round -- now you know that the really tough matches are here," she said.