Rafael Nadal launched his bid for a second ATP Masters Series title in as many tournaments with a second-round victory over Ricardo Mello in Sony Ericsson Open.
MIAMI: Rafael Nadal launched his bid for a second ATP Masters Series title in as many tournaments with a second-round victory over Ricardo Mello in the 6.9 million-dollar Sony Ericsson Open.
The second-seeded Spaniard, who won his first title of 2007 at the Indian Wells Masters Series event on Sunday, defied difficult conditions to beat Brazil's Mello 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 on Friday.
Nadal, third-seeded American Andy Roddick and 12th-seeded Scottish teen Andy Murray all advanced, but eighth-seeded American James Blake was ousted by France's Florent Serra and Australian Lleyton Hewitt withdrew before his first match with a sore back.
On the women's side, second-seeded Justine Henin of Belgium reached the third round, as did fourth-seeded compatriot Kim Clijsters and Indian Wells women's winner
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, the 16th seed.
After rain caused delays of more than five hours on Thursday, Nadal said the big problem yesterday was the wind.
"The thing today was the wind," said Nadal, who fought off a set point in the first-set tiebreaker. "A lot of wind, and the wind changes all the time. It's not always the same
way.
"So it was very, very difficult. I arrived here with a lot of confidence after playing very good tennis at Indian Wells, but it was a tough match. So it's important to have the
victory."
Nadal has had mixed fortunes in recent years here. He lost a close final to world number one Roger Federer in 2005, but was ousted in the second round last year.
In the third round, he'll face Belgian Olivier Rochus, who beat Spain's Guillermo Lopez Garcia 6-3, 6-4. Roddick eased past Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-3, 6-2 to
book a third-round clash with France's Gilles Simon, who dispatched Peru's Luis Horna.
Serra, ranked 64th in the world, avenged an Indian Wells loss to Blake with a 7-6 (10/8), 2-6, 6-3 victory. He next faces Spain's Feliciano Lopez, a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) winner over
Russian Marat Safin.
"It's a bad day," Blake said. "Hit a couple of bad points in the tiebreaker where I kind of gave away points and then second set got rolling.
"Third set, same thing - one bad game, then I had a chance to break back and it didn't happen."
Australia's Hewitt, meanwhile was disappointed that the back problems that hindered him at Indian Wells hadn't abated.
"My back hasn't come up as well as I would have liked from last week, which is frustrating for me," Hewitt said. "Not a whole heap I can do about it at the moment, but I don't want to go out there and play in pain. It's frustrating.
"I'm not going to go out and risk further injury. It's the last thing I need at the moment."
Hewitt's departure eases the path for Murray, who could have faced the Aussie in the third round.
Murray defeated Paul Goldstein 7-2, 7-6 (7/4) and will face American Robert Kendrick, who replaced Hewitt in the draw and beat Raemon Sluiter 6-4, 6-4.
On the women's side, Henin, fighting off a cold, eliminated American Vania King 6-4, 6-1 to book a third-round date with France's Virginie Razzano, who eliminated Germany's Martina Muller 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
"I wasn't at my best, far from that," Henin said. "It was tough, pretty windy out there. I needed a little bit of time to get used to the conditions. Second set was much better, but I need to improve. I need some matches."
Henin, newly installed as the world number one, said the ranking would be of little help as she tries to put together a solid run in Miami, where she has never excelled.
"I don't think it does change anything," she said. "When you're on the court the ranking doesn't mean anything. It's only on the paper. On the court we have to prove we're playing good tennis."
Henin's compatriot Clijsters, who won this tournament in her stellar 2005 season, advanced with a 46, 6-0, 6-0 victory over Japan's Akiko Morigami.
Sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova also advanced, beating France's Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, (7/2), while seventh-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic moved on with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over China's Peng Shuai.
Top seeds Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova open their campaigns on Saturday with second-round matches, as does Australian Open champion Serena Williams.
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