MELBOURNE, Jan 20: Lleyton Hewitt fought past a bloodied James Blake on Thursday to reach the Australian Open third round and keep alive the host nation's hopes of a home grown men's singles champion.

The leading women also suffered early scares, with top seed Lindsay Davenport and French Open champion Anastasia Myskina caught flat-footed before they lurched into the next round.

Eighth seed Venus Williams had little trouble disposing of Chinese amateur Peng Shuai 6-3 6-1. Williams, who lost to younger sister Serena in the 2003 Melbourne final, dropped her opening service game before cruising to victory.

Hewitt showed his inimitable grit to win 4-6 7-6 6-0 6-3 against American Blake, who is battling back after a dismal 2004 during which he suffered a fractured neck vertebra.

The 25-year-old took the fight to Hewitt from the start and dominated the first set on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. Blake held two service breaks in the second set and served for it at 6-5 before Hewitt fought back to force a tie-break.

Blake did his version of Hewitt's trademark salute and "C'mon" after saving the second of two set points in the tie-break. But his game began to unravel after he lunged and fell in a vain effort to save the final point in the tie-break, won by Hewitt 10-8.

Blake split the webbing between two fingers on his right hand and needed treatment several times to staunch the bleeding. "They're matches you really have to get up for.

I really had to go out and play some of my best tennis the last two matches," said Hewitt who beat France's Arnaud Clement in the first round. The last Australian men's champion was Mark Edmondson in 1976.

Seventh seed Tim Henman dismissed Romanian Victor Hanescu 7-5 6-1 6-4 to reach the third round. Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu of Chile pulled out with an ankle injury when unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber led their match 6-0 2-0.

Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal upset 15th seed Mikhail Youzhny, saving a match point before beating the Russian 6-1 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 in a 217-minute epic on Rod Laver Arena.

Fourteenth seed Sebastien Grosjean joined Youzhny at the exit after squandering a two-set lead against French compatriot Jean-Rene Lisnard. Grosjean, a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2001, was beaten 1-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-3.

Davenport, the 2000 Open champion, dropped the first set against Czech Michaela Pastikova before recovering to win 2-6 6-2 6-2. Davenport has reached the third round each year she has played in Melbourne since 1993.

"I just wasn't ready to be at my best at the very beginning, and it definitely cost me against someone who came out playing very well, very aggressive and kind of caught me on my back foot," Davenport said.

"I tried to buckle down after I lost the first set and concentrate more in the short term than in the long term." An erratic Myskina was similarly slow out of the blocks against 114th-ranked Tzipora Obziler whose career was interrupted by two years' service in the Israeli army.

Obziler took a 3-1 lead and the pair traded five service breaks between them in an untidy first set. Myskina, the third seed, regrouped to win 6-4 6-2 and said she never felt in any real danger.

"Even though I was down 3-1, I still was confident that I can win the match," said Myskina. Myskina will meet American Lisa Raymond in the third round after the 25th seed thrashed Czech Klara Koukalova 6-0 6-1.

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