January 19, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 28, 1427

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MELBOURNE, Jan 18: Rafael Nadal had to battle all the way for a bruising 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over little-known German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

His potential quarter-final opponent, Lleyton Hewitt, also had to fight hard for his 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 success over Canadian Frank Dancevic.

The muscle-bound Nadal has often made tennis look like a contact sport and on Thursday he was given a taste of his own medicine.

Ranked 61st in the world, Kohlschreiber took little notice of his underdog status and matched Nadal blow for blow, producing bludgeoning forehands from every corner of the court.

Aiming to level the second set at 2-2, Kohlschreiber rammed the ball straight into Nadal. The Spaniard doubled over but not before his tremendous sense of reflex had allowed him to smack the ball over the net.

Stretched face down on the ground, Nadal immediately pushed up on to his hands to see if he had won the point. What he saw was the ball floating past above his head as Kohlschreiber had made the final contact.

Fired up by the audacity of his opponent, Nadal dusted off his bulging biceps and then reacted the only way he knows how – to come out fighting and after 3-1/2 hours he sealed victory at 0130 local time. As Nadal battled into the small hours of the morning, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis were safely tucked up in bed.

Hingis and Clijsters entered the two showcourts at Melbourne Park at almost the same time for their matches, both eager to get back to the locker room the quickest.

Fourth seed Clijsters crossed the tape first, whipping Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0 in 59 minutes under a closed roof in the Rod Laver Arena.

Hingis, seeded sixth, lagged behind by nine minutes but was impressive in a 6-2, 6-2 win over hapless Russian teenager Alla Kudryavtseva.

After struggling to stay on her feet during a three-hour battle in the roasting conditions two days ago, top seed Maria Sharapova's ruthless streak was back on show on Thursday.

She whizzed around court as if she was on roller skates and flattened Russian compatriot Anastassia Rodionova 6-0, 6-3 in 58 minutes.

Sharapova led the Russian charge at the championships as one of eight women from her nation through to the third round.

Fans can look forward to seeing a lot more of a bearded James Blake after he dispatched fellow American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

British teenager Andy Murray could have done with sticking to the form of his previous match.

The 15th seed, who dropped only one game in the first round, was made to hang around a lot longer for a 7-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco.

Burly Argentine David Nalbandian set up an intriguing third-round showdown against Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean following a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Nicolas Lapentti.

Hewitt gave his army of hollering fans plenty of anxious moments as he continued his mission to end Australia's search for their first men's champion since 1976.

Having come into the tournament with a question mark hanging over his fitness, he was happy to follow up his previous five-set win with a two-hour, 48-minute battle on Thursday.

Firing pin-point serves, the 19th sent down 14 aces. But the fiery Australian almost wiped out all the free points by producing 12 double faults.

Results:

Men's singles (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; 3-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-4, 6-0, 6-3; Florian Mayer (Germany) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2; 12-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Ilija Bozoljac (Serbia) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-3; 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 4-0 – Del Potro retired; 28-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; 31-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Paul Capdeville (Chile) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; 8-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; 15-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-4; Fabrice Santoro (France) beat Arnaud Clement (France) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; Robby Ginepri (US) beat Mischa Zverev (Germany) 6-4, 7-5, 6-1; 19-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Frank Dancevic (Canada) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; 21-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat 17-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; 13-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Robert Smeets (Australia) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; 5-James Blake (US) beat Alex Kuznetsov (US) 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

Women’s singles:

Second round: Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) beat 24-Samantha Stosur

(Australia) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; 8-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Shuai Peng (China) 7-5, 6-3; 9-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Youlia Fedossova (France) 6-3, 6-2; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Anastassia Rodionova (Russia) 6-0, 6-3; 13-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Ashley Harkleroad (US) beat 17-Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) 6-2, 6-2; 19-Li Na (China) beat Lourdes Dominguez (Spain) 6-0, 6-2; 12-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat Laura Granville (US) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1; 15-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Emilie Loit (France) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 30-Tathiana Garbin (Italy) beat Renata Voracova (Czech

Republic) 6-1, 7-5; Alicia Molik (Australia) beat Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; 29-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-3, 6-4; 22-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-1, 6-3; Aiko Nakamura (Japan) beat Sania Mirza (India) 6-3, 6-2; 6-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) 6-2, 6-2; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Akiko Morigami (Japan) 6-3, 6-0.—Reuters