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Nadal romps into third round

Defending champion Djokovic starts off well; Safina advances

— Photo: AFP

CHARGING AHEAD: World No. 1 Rafael Nadal started his campaign at the BNP Paribas Open by dismissing Michael Berrer with ease on Sunday.

INDIAN WELLS: World No.1 Rafael Nadal breezed past qualifier Michael Berrer and into the third round of BNP Paribas Open ATP Masters and WTA tennis tournament on Sunday. Nadal downed Berrer 6-2, 6-1 in just 67 minutes to join defending champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.

Djokovic, seeded third in the $4.5 million tournament behind Nadal and Roger Federer, defeated 54th-ranked Argentinian Martin Vasallo Arguello 7-5, 6-4.

Nadal, who will play Dmitry Tursunov in the third round, broke Berrer in the first game and dominated the German from the baseline while outclassing him in every department.

Good outing

“For me, it was perfect,” Nadal said. “I played a very comfortable match. I had the break in the first game in both sets, so that’s really important. I felt well on court, playing good.”

Djokovic, who claimed his first title of 2009 at Dubai two weeks ago, went up an early break in each set only to surrender his serve before breaking Arguello again.

He closed out the match on his second match point, when the Argentinean sent a service return long.

Djokovic next faces German veteran Tommy Haas, who downed compatriot Rainer Schuettler 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4.

Tough match

Women’s top seed Dinara Safina of Russia had to work a little harder to book a fourth-round berth, defeating China’s Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-4.

Safina, who has a chance to supplant the absent Serena Williams atop the world rankings by reaching the final of this WTA event, was up a break in the second set but gave it back before breaking Peng again to lead 5-4.

The Russian made no mistake as she served for the match, finishing off with a love game.

“Suddenly I stopped in the middle of the second set,” Safina said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing? Just play!”’

Despite the lapse of concentration Safina avoided the upset bug that saw 15 of 32 seeded women eliminated in the second round, including second-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, No. 3 Elena Dementieva and No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, both of Russia.

Fourth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva also reached the fourth round, with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.

Men’s sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro rallied for a 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1 victory over wildcard Ryan Sweeting, booking a clash with Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

In other men’s matches, last year’s surprise men’s finalist Mardy Fish, who shocked Federer in the semifinals in 2008, was beaten 7-6(4), 7-6(1) by France’s Jeremy Chardy.

The results:

At Indian Wells (ATP & WTA BNP Paribas Open): Men’s singles: Second round: David Ferrer bt Todd Widom 6-4, 7-5; Jeremy Chardy bt Mardy Fish 7-6(4), 7-6(1); Nicolas Kiefer bt Bobby Reynolds 6-4, 6-2; Novak Djokovic bt Martin Vassallo Arguello 7-5, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka bt Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-3; Juan Martin Del Potro bt Ryan Sweeting 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1; Tommy Haas bt Rainer Schuettler 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4.

Dmitry Tursunov bt Michael Russell 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3; John Isner bt Gael Monfils 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4; Jurgen Melzer bt Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-1; David Nalbandian bt Robert Kendrick 6-4, 6-4; Andy Roddick bt Daniel Koellerer 6-1, 7-6(3); Sam Querrey bt Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3; Viktor Troicki bt Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-1; Marat Safin bt Nicolas Massu 6-3, 7-6(2).

Women’s singles: Third round: Vera Zvonareva bt Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki bt Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Jill Craybas bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-3; Dinara Safina bt Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-4; Urszula Radwanska bt Alexa Glatch 6-3, 7-6(3); Shahar Peer bt Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-4. — Agencies

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