The Hindu : Sport : Rafael Nadal overcomes Bracciali

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Rafael Nadal overcomes Bracciali

ON A ROLL: Justine Henin had an easy outing against Tatjana Malek. — PHOTO: AFP

ROME: Rafael Nadal overcame stiff resistance from Italian wild card Daniele Bracciali on Wednesday on his way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the second round of the Rome Masters.

Nadal extended his clay-court winning streak to 73 matches and is attempting to become the first player to win this tournament three consecutive times.

Nadal will next face 15th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who the Spaniard lost to on hard courts in Dubai earlier this year. Youzhny eliminated Olivier Rochus 7-6(7), 6-3.

Roddick rolls ahead

Earlier, Andy Roddick opened his clay-court season in style, beating 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 7-6(8).

After breezing through the first set, Roddick required five match points before putting a volley away to end his second-round match with Gaudio.

Nicolas Massu of Chile upset ninth-seeded James Blake, while Filippo Volandri of Italy eliminated 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet.

Serbian sixth seed Novak Djokovic needed a third set to beat Swede Robin Soderling. Djokovic will now meet Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot defeating Czech Radek Stepanek.

Light work

Meanwhile, World No.1 Justine Henin admitted she was happy to stroll into the third round of Berlin's WTA tournament with a straight sets win over teenage German wild-card Tatjana Malek on Wednesday.

She made light work of her opening game, a second-round tie to see off the 19-year-old Malek, only dropping two games in her 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The results:

At Rome (Rome Masters): Singles: Second round: Fernando Gonzalez bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-1; Mikhail Youzhny bt Olivier Rochus 7-6(7), 6-3; Filippo Volandri bt Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4; Tommy Robredo bt Oscar Hernandez 7-5, 4-6, 6-1; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Igor Andreev 7-5, 7-5; Nicolas Massu bt James Blake 7-6(3), 7-5; Rafael Nadal bt Daniele Bracciali 6-4, 6-2; Tomas Berdych bt Albert Montanes 7-6(5) 6-3; Andy Roddick bt Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 7-6(8); Novak Djokovic bt Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Marcos Baghdatis bt Radek Stepanek 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2.

At Berlin (WTA German Open): Second round: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Sybille Bammer 6-1, 7-5; Amelie Mauresmo bt Yan Zi 6-3, 6-3; Lucie Safarova bt Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-4; Maria Elena Camerin bt Li Na 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Jelena Jankovic bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 2-6, 7-5; Justine Henin bt Tatjana Malek 6-1, 6-1; Martina Hingis bt Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 7-6(7).

Nadia Petrova bt Severine Brémond 6-4, 6-2; Dinara Safina bt Lourdes Domínguez Lino 6-4, 6-3; Elena Dementieva bt Meghann Shaughnessy 5-7, 6-3, 6-1; Ana Ivanovic bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-2; Martina Müller bt Shahar Peer 6-2, 7-6(2).

Patty Schnyder bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-1; Alona Bondarenko bt Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 6-3; Julia Vakulenko bt Meilen Tu 6-1, 7-6(4); Shuai Peng bt Zuzana Ondraskova 7-5, 6-1.

First round: Zuzana Ondraskova bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-3; Maria Elena Camerin bt Jie Zheng 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Meghann Shaughnessy bt Tamira Paszek 7-6(3), 6-2; Yan Zi bt Kristina Barrois 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Meilen Tu bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Elena Likhovtseva bt Emilie Loit 7-5, 3-6, 6-1; Julia Vakulenko bt Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2; Ana Ivanovic bt Laure Granville 6-2, 6-1.

At Prague (WTA Prague Open): Second round: Julia Schruff bt Olga Poutchkova 6-2, 6-2; Klara Zakopalova bt Virginie Razzano 6-2, 7-6(1); Marion Bartoli bt Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-3, 6-4; Jarmila Gajdosova bt Sandra Kloesel 6-0, 6-4.

First round: Nathalie Dechy bt Renata Voracova 7-5, 6-0; Andrea Hlavackova bt Jill Craybas 1-6, 7-5, 6-2; Viktoria Kutuzova bt Alberta Brianti 7-5, 6-3; Victoria Azarenka bt Martina Sucha 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Yvonne Meusburger bt Michaella Krajicek 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; Camille Pin bt Catalina Castano 6-4, 6-1. — Agencies

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