The Hindu : Sport : Federer and Djokovic go through; Lu Yen-Hsun upsets Nalbandian

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Federer and Djokovic go through; Lu Yen-Hsun upsets Nalbandian

Sania falls to Nadia Petrova, but insists on seeing the positives

— PHOTO: AFP

CAMPAIGN ENDS: The unseeded Sania Mirza came off second-best in her encounter with Nadia Petrova, but said she was happy to just be back playing top flight tennis.

MELBOURNE: Defending champion Novak Djokovic hit top gear in a sparkling Australian Open performance on Wednesday as former winners Roger Federer and Marat Safin set up the clash of the third round. Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun produced the biggest shock so far in ousting 10th seed David Nalbandian while America’s Andy Roddick made unexpectedly slow progress past 195th-ranked Xavier Malisse.

In the women’s draw, Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova ended Sania Mirza’s singles run beating her 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

Djokovic was in irresistible form against Jeremy Chardy of France, winning 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 as he shrugged off an indifferent start to the year. “I think I’m playing better and better every match, so this is really important. This is something that I planned to do,” he said.

Mouth-watering clash

Meanwhile Federer, seeking a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam, turned on the style against qualifier Evgeny Korolev to set up a mouth-watering third-round clash with long-time foe Safin.

The two former No.1s, who have never played so early at a Grand Slam, have a memorable history here with Federer winning the 2004 final but being ousted in a classic semi by Safin a year later.

“We go way back. Him, of course, being a former No.1, same as me, and a former Grand Slam champion, it’s an intriguing match-up,” Federer said.

Federer has won their previous three meetings, including last year’s Wimbledon semifinal, and holds a 9-2 record against the Russian.

Safin also said he was relishing Friday’s clash, which promises to be the pick of the third round.

“Unfortunately I haven’t won a lot of matches against him, but I’m looking forward to it,” said the Russian, who beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. “It’s another chance. I have nothing to lose. I’m going to go for it — whatever comes, comes.”

Seventh seed Roddick, 26, is desperate to be a genuine contender once again but ran into a roadblock in Malisse before winning in four sets.

Big scalp

The 25-year-old Lu, who has never been past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament in 12 previous attempts, thumped the Argentinean 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 6-2 in three hours 55 minutes.

Lu broke Nalbandian once in the first set to take an unlikely lead but looked to have blown his chance when the 10th seed took the next two sets. However Lu, ranked 61 in the world, came back to grab the fourth set then broke Nalbandian at the start of the fifth.

The Argentinean, a renowned five-set specialist, tried to come back at Lu but found himself 2-5 down and desperate to stay in the match. He saved one match point at 30-40 and then had five attempts to break back and put Lu under pressure, only to be undone by some high class first serves from the Asian number two. Lu had another match point and claimed victory with a forehand volley into the open court.

Happy to be back

Sania said she was happy just to be back after a painful six months on the sidelines, despite her loss.

But the 22-year-old vowed to bounce back as she works to once again to match her career-high of 27 after recovering from a serious wrist injury.

“I’m just happy to be back and doing what I love doing, playing tennis and competing,” she said. “There was a big crowd out there and I haven’t played like that for six months. Of course, I’m disappointed at losing but I will try and take positives from this.

“I will try and get into the top 30, of course, but the last five or six months have taught me to live for the moment so I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

On her game against Petrova, she conceded she was simply outclassed by a better player.

“When you’re playing the world number 10 you expect her to raise her game under pressure and that is exactly what she did,” she said of her opponent. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Men’s singles: Second round: 2-Roger Federer bt Evgeny Korolev, Russia, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1; 3-Novak Djokovic bt Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-1, 6-3; 7-Andy Roddick bt Xavier Malisse 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(1), 6-2; 8-Juan Martin del Potro bt Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5, 6-2; Yen-hsun Lu bt 10-David Nalbandian 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; 11-David Ferrer bt Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; 15-Stanislas Wawrinka bt Brydan Klein 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Marcos Baghdatis bt 16-Robin Soderling 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3; 19-Marin Cilic bt Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; 20-Tomas Berdych bt Brian Dabul 6-1, 6-1, 6-3; 21-Tommy Robredo bt Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-3, 6-0; 23-Mardy Fish bt Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-1, 7-5. 26-Marat Safin bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain 7-5, 6-2, 6-2; Amer Delic bt 28-Paul-Henri Mathieu 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 9-7; Fabrice Santoro bt 32-Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Women’s singles: Second round: 1-Jelena Jankovic bt Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 7-5; 3-Dinara Safina bt Ekaterina Makarova 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-0; 5-Ana Ivanovic bt Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-2; 7-Vera Zvonareva bt Edina Gallovits 6-0, 6-0; 10-Nadia Petrova bt Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-2; 11-Caroline Wozniacki bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 6-3; 15-Alize Cornet bt Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-0; 16-Marion Bartoli bt Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5, 6-2; Jelena Dokic bt 17-Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3; 19-Daniela Hantuchova bt Mathilde Johansson 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; 25-Kaia Kanepi bt Patricia Mayr 6-3, 6-1; 26-Ai Sugiyama bt Nathalie Dechy 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; 29-Alisa Kleybanova bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

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