Reigning champion Rafael Nadal breezed into the third round of the
BNP Paribas Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany's Rainer
Schuettler on Saturday.
Third-seeded Nadal set up a third round meeting with
Croatia's Mario Ancic, who struggled past France's Julien Benneteau
4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Novak Djokovic, seeded second, had a topsy-turvy 6-1, 0-6,
6-2 over Mardy Fish in a reprise of the 2008 final. The Serb's
opponent in the third round will be Germany's Philipp
Kohlschreiber.
Russian Nikolay Davydenko, seeded fifth, also progressed with
a 6-4, 6-4 win over Latvia's Ernests Gulbis and will next take on a
well-rested Viktor Troicki, who was sent into the third round after
his Uruguayan opponent Pablo Cuevas retired after losing the
opening game.
Spain's tenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco was another to win
through, defeating Paraguay's Ramon Delgado 6-4, 6-1. Verdasco's
third-round opponent will be Czech No.19 Tomas Berdych.
Marin Cilic was the main casualty of the day. The Croatian
No.8 seed, who reached the Australian Open semifinals, was crushed
in the second set as Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won 7-6 (1),
6-0.
In the women's draw, the main news was the elimination of
No.1-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian was no match for Carla
Suarez Navarro in the final set, with the Spaniard winning 6-4,
4-6, 6-1.
"The tennis ball is perfect. I am not perfect," Kuznetsova
said.
Kuznetsova, who hadn't played in a month and had a
first-round bye, made 69 unforced errors and double-faulted seven
times.
"It's frustrating because I know I have the game," said
Kuznetsova. "I feel great. I do practice, play unbelievable and
then I get to the match and I don't do much."
"I play tennis for like 17 years and I still cannot put this
little ball in this huge court. It's frustrating. ... I'm not the
worst player in the world, so definitely I have (the) expectation
from myself to put a little bit more inside of the court."
Suarez Navarro, who made her name by beating Venus Williams
in the 2009 Australian Open, played only 14 winners against
Kuznetsova's 34, but did manage to get that ball in court.
The Spaniard will next face No.27 Hungarian Agnes Szavay.
Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was a 6-1, 7-5
winner of Austria's Sybille Bammer, setting up a meeting with No.
28 Maria Martinez Sanchez.
Jelena Jankovic, No. 6, was another winner, seeing off
Croatia's Petra Martic 6-3, 7-6 (2), progressing to a clash with
Italian Sara Errani.
However another former world's No.1 Ana Ivanovic was a shock
loser, thrashed 6-2, 6-4 by Anastasija Sevastova.
Australia's Sam Stosur, seeded eighth, beat France's Julie
Coin 6-1, 7-6 (4) and will face Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,
seeded 25th.
Italian Flavia Pennetta was a 6-3, 6-3 victor against Czech
Petra Kvitova. Her third-round opponent will be Israel's Shahar
Peer.
Two-time champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium won her
second-round match, beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech
Republic, 6-2, 6-1.
Reigning champion Vera Zvonareva of Russia survived a
challenge from 16-year-old American Sloane Stephens, winning 6-4,
7-5.
