NEW HAVEN (Connecticut), Aug 23: Defending champion James Blake suffered a shock 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 defeat by Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the New Haven event second round on Tuesday.
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko bounced back from early defeats in his last two tournaments by beating Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round.
Russian Davydenko, the world No 7, needed just 64 minutes to beat Clement and set up a third-round clash with Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, who beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
It was generally a good day for seeds with 14 of the 15 in action advancing to the last 16, even though number three Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and number five David Ferrer of Spain both survived tough tests.
Seventh seed Fernando Verdasco beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6, 6-4.
Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova survived another three-set battle to beat Tatiana Golovin 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 and reach the women’s quarter-finals.
Lindsay Davenport earned her first win since returning from a back injury but there was a first-round defeat for eighth seed Anastasia Myskina, who could now be doubtful for next week's US Open because of a niggling foot problem.
Having dropped a set to American Jill Craybas on Monday, Kuznetsova took just under two hours to defeat Frenchwoman Golovin, the world No 28.
Myskina lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Italy's Mara Santangelo.
Davenport overcame a slow start to crush Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-3 and set up a second-round match with Italian Francesca Schiavone.