The Hindu : Sport : Nadal, Djokovic in third round

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Monday, Mar 17, 2008
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Nadal, Djokovic in third round

Sania-Mattek pair reaches the quarterfinals

INDIAN WELLS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal, Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic and women’s top seed Ana Ivanovic all advanced to the third round of the Pacific Life Open with straight set wins here on Saturday.

Nadal, the No. 2 seed, beat qualifier Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-3, 6-3.

The third-seeded Djokovic downed Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(3) on another day plagued by cold, gusty winds.

“You always want to pick up the best things in the match and keep the high level of performance,” said Djokovic, who made his debut in the ATP Tour’s top 10 after losing to Nadal in last year’s Pacific Life final.

“But, it was a very ugly match to watch, a lot of unforced errors,” he said. American James Blake, the No. 9 seed, was a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 winner over Marc Gicquel of France.

Serbs progress

On the women’s side, No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic, No. 6 Marion Bartoli and two-time winner Lindsay Davenport joined Ivanovic in the third round.

Ivanovic of Serbia defeated Romania’s Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1, 5-7, 6-0. Ivanovic, the Australian Open runner-up, played well at the start and finish but lost her composure in the middle set. The other Serb, Jankovic, beat Ahsha Rolle 6-0, 6-2.

There was one minor upset on the men’s side, with Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beating No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Keeping their cool

Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek survived a tough test before securing their passage to the quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded duo defeated Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus and Russian Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to reach the last eight stage.

Sania and Mattek started well and dominated the first set, but their opponents levelled the match by claiming the second.

The encounter was then pushed to a super tiebreaker, which was also close, but Sania and Mattek held their nerve to win.

Important results:

Men: Second round: Novak Djokovic bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(3); Stanislas Wawrinka bt Tomas Berdych 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4; David Ferrer bt Olivier Rochus 6-2, 6-2; Richard Gasquet bt Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-2; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-4; Rafael Nadal bt Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-3; Carlos Moya bt Robby Ginepri 2-6, 6-2, 6-4; James Blake bt Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1; Guillermo Canas bt Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 7-6(4); Marcos Baghdatis bt Wayne Odesnik 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-3.

Women: Second round: Jelena Jankovic bt Ahsha Rolle 6-0, 6-2; Vera Zvonareva bt Aravane Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Lindsay Davenport bt Gisela Dulko 6-2, retd.; Marion Bartoli bt Elena Vesnina 6-0, 6-4; Ana Ivanovic bt Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1, 5-7, 6-0; Chan Yung-jan bt Sybille Bammer 6-1, 6-3; Tathiana Garbin bt Vania King 6-3, 6-3; Ai Sugiyama bt Greta Arn 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Francesca Schiavone bt Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-1; Casey Dellacqua bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

Doubles: Women: Second round: Sania Mirza & Bethanie Mattek bt Tatiana Poutchek & Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 4-6, 10-7, tiebreak. — Agencies

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