September 01, 2006	Friday	Sha'aban 7, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

NEW YORK, Aug 31: World No 1 Roger Federer and chief rival Rafael Nadal began their march towards a US Open collision with straight-set victories on Wednesday.

Federer hammered Wang Yeu-tzuoo of Taiwan 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 in first-round action on Arthur Ashe Stadium, while second seed Nadal crushed former finalist Mark Philippoussis 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

The duo have contested the last two Grand Slam finals and are favourites to meet in the championship match on Sept 10.

Needing just 100 minutes to advance, Australian Open and Federer lost to Nadal in the French Open final but beat him at Wimbledon.

A day after rain wiped out nearly all of the scheduled matches, large crowds at Flushing Meadows welcomed the tennis despite gloomy skies and the constant threat of rain.

In the women's draw, top seed Amelie Mauresmo completed her rain-suspended first-round match with Kristina Barrois, defeating the 131st-ranked German qualifier 6-1, 7-5.

Third seed Maria Sharapova blasted 10 aces and never lost her serve to crush 17-year-old Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 6-0 in just 59 minutes.

Also advancing to the second round were Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian on the men's side, and Martina Hingis and Serena Williams on the women's.

Federer, gunning for his third straight US Open crown, hit seven aces and kept Wang off balance by winning 90 percent of his first serve points.

Nadal wasted little time hitting his stride, pumping his fist and roaring on each key point against 1998 runner-up Philippoussis, a hard-serving wildcard entry from Australia.

Second-ranked Nadal Spaniard committed just 10 unforced errors while breaking Philippoussis's serve once in each set.

Nadal, who has never advanced past the third round of the Open, set the tone for the match by breaking Philippoussis in the opening game of the match.

Mauresmo opened the day up a set but down 5-2 in the second before winning all five games against an error-prone Barrois to set up a second-round affair against American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Marat Safin, the 2000 champion, set up an intriguing second-round showdown with Nalbandian after a four-set victory over Czech Robin Vik.

Argentine Nalbandian, the fourth seed, was pushed to the distance by German Michael Berrer before prevailing 6-2 in the fifth.

Australian Hewitt, Safin's successor as champion in 2001, eased to a 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 win over Spaniard Albert Montanes.

Wednesday’s results:

Men's singles:

Second round: 9-Andy Roddick (US) beat Kristian Pless (Denmark) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

First round: Paul Goldstein (US) beat Jesse Witten (US) 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1; Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) beat Marcos Daniel (Brazil) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3; 18-Robby Ginepri (US) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; 16-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat George Bastl (Switzerland) 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Marc Gicquel (France) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; Sam Querrey (US) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 17-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Robert Kendrick (US) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; 29-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Scoville Jenkins (US) 7-5, 6-4, 6-4; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) beat Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Joshua Goodall (Britain) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; 5-James Blake (US) beat Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7); Nicolas Mahut (France) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3; 7-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-0; Alessio Di Mauro (Italy) beat Juergen Melzer (Austria) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, 7-5; 21-Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; Vince Spadea (US) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; 14-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Alex Kuznetsov (US) 6-2, 6-4, 6-0; Tim Henman (Britain) beat Greg Rusedski (Britain) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-3; Carlos Moya (Spain) beat 28-Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3; Noam Okun (Israel) beat Potito Starace (Italy) 6-2, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2; Wesley Moodie (South Africa) beat Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4; Lukasz Kubot (Poland) beat 32-Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; 23-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) beat Wayne Odesnik (US) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Taiwan) 6-4, 6-1, 6-0; 27-Gael Monfils (France) beat Mike Russell (US) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4); 30-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (1-7) ,6-2; 22-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat Kevin Kim (US) 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5; 4-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Michael Berrer (Germany) 4-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-2; 15-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 7-5, 6-4, 6-3; Luis Horna (Peru) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 7-5, 6-4, 6-3; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Mark Philippoussis (Australia) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Jan Hajek (Czech Republic) beat Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 12-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Boris Pasanski (Serbia & Montenegro) 6-4, 6-2, 6-1; Marat Safin (Russia) beat Robin Vik (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Jiri Vanek (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; Florian Mayer (Germany) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1; 26-Olivier Rochus (Belgium) beat Olivier Patience (France) 6-0, 6-2, 6-2; Ryan Sweeting (US) beat Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 3-2 – Coria retired.

Women’s singles:

First round: Emilie Loit (France) beat Camille Pin (France) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); 5-Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Clarisa Fernandez (Argentina) 6-2, 6-1; Virginia Ruano (Spain) beat Amy Frazier (US) 6-2, 6-1; Nicole Pratt (Australia) beat Milagros Sequera (Venezuela) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2; Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Zi Yan (China) 6-0, 7-5; 17-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Bethanie Mattek (US) 7-5, 6-3; Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) 6-3, 6-0; 32-Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Tiantian Sun (China) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4; 27-Tatiana Golovin (France) beat Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-3, 7-5; Youlia Fedossova (France) beat 25-Anabel Medina (Spain) 7-5, 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat Stephanie Foretz (France) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; 13-Mary Pierce (France) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 7-5, 6-1; Serena Williams (US) beat Lourdes Dominguez (Spain) 6-1, 6-2; 8-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Shuai Peng (China) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; 12-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukraine) 6-1, 6-3; 24-Na Li (China) beat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Spain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat 31-Nathalie Dechy (France) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1; Eva Birnerova (Czech Republic) beat Galina Voskoboeva (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3; Jamea Jackson (US) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-2, 6-2; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) beat Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) 7-5, 6-3; Virginie Razzano (France) beat Maret Ani (Estonia) 7-5, 6-4; Meghann Shaughnessy (US) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-3, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat 11-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 6-4, 6-2; Mara Santangelo (Italy) beat Lisa Raymond (US) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Shenay Perry (US) 6-0, 6-2; 1-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Kristina Barrois (Germany) 6-1, 7-5; 23-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-1; Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukraine) beat Maria Jose Martinez (Spain) 6-3, 6-3; 16-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia & Montenegro) beat Vera Dushevina (Russia) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Ahsha Rolle (US) 6-4, 6-4; Aiko Nakamura (Japan) beat Melinda Czink (Hungary) 6-1, 6-2; Jarmila Gajdosova (Slovakia) beat Alexa Glatch (US) 6-2, 6-1.—Reuters