May 25, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 08, 1428

POERTSCHACH (Austria), May 24: Top seeds Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick enjoyed comfortable second-round wins at the ATP tournament on Wednesday.

Roddick, the American world number three and tournament second seed, disposed of Denmark’s Kristian Pless 6-4, 6-3, while Davydenko beat Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti 6-4, 6-2.

Just as in his opening-round win over Austrian wildcard Alexander Peya, Roddick relied heavily on strong serving – winning all but nine of his 49 service points.

Pless’s chances were apparently not helped by a neck injury midway through the match.

Roddick’s win earned him his first quarter-final spot at a claycourt tournament in more than a year and suggested a strong improvement in form since his early exit from this month’s Masters Series event in Rome.

Rarely at his best on clay, the former world number one is hoping to fine-tune his game before next week’s French Open, where he has never been past the third round.

His next test in Poertschach comes in the form of 20-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils, who downed Roddick 6-2, 6-3 during last year’s Rome quarter-finals.

Monfils saw off seventh-seeded South Korean Lee Hyung-taik 7-6, 6-4 to set up his rematch with the American.

Davydenko, who is looking to win his third successive title at this event, had to face one of his bogey opponents on Wednesday, with Lapentti boasting a 3-0 record in previous head-to-head meetings with the world number four.

There was never any danger of a repeat this time around however with the Russian breaking the Ecuadorean three times without reply to set up a last-eight meeting with Argentina’s Juan Monaco.

Monaco, who won his first ATP title in his home city of Buenos Aires in Feb, booked his own quarter-final place with a 6-3, 6-1 win over America’s Michael Russell.

Australian fourth seed Lleyton Hewitt also had little difficulty on Wednesday, reaching the last eight with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian qualifier Potito Starace. Hewitt will now face Argentina’s Diego Hartfield for a place in the semi-finals.

Results (x denotes seeding):

Second round: Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x4) bt Potito Starace (ITA) 6-4, 6-4; Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Michael Russell (US) 6-3, 6-1; Diego Hartfield (ARG) bt Vincent Spadea (US) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Nikolaj Davidenko (RUS x1) bt Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 6-4, 6-2; Gael Monfils (FRA) bt Hyung-taik Lee (KOR x7) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Andy Roddick (US x2) bt Kristian Pless (DAN) 6-4, 6-3.

REZAI OUSTS VENUS

ISTANBUL: France’s unseeded Aravena Rezai defeated Venus Williams to advance to the quarter-finals in the Istanbul WTA Tournament on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old played a strong, offensive game against the American number four seed, winner here in 2005, who made vital unforced errors to lose 6-4, 6-4.

Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, the number three seed, also advanced to the quarter-finals after beating Vania King of the US 6-4, 6-1. Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, seeded seventh, beat Italy’s Romina Oprandi to advance to the quarters where she will take on top-seed Russian Maria Sharapova.

Number five seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, USA’s Meghann Shaughnessy and Catalina Castano of Columbia also won quarter-final berths.

The last quarter finalist will be the winner of the second-round match later Wednesday between Russia’s Elena Dementieva, the number two seed, and Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia.

Results:

Second round: Patty Schnyder (SUI x3) bt Vania King (US) 6-4, 6-1; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x7) bt Romina Oprandi (ITA) 6-1, 6-0; Meghann Shaughnessy (US) bt Ekaterina Afinogenova (RUS) 6-1, 6-3; Catalina Castano (COL) bt Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Aravena Rezai (FRA) bt Venus Williams (US x4) 6-4, 6-4; Alona Bondarenko (UKR x5) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5); Elena Dementieva (RUS x2) bt Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) 6-3, 6-3. — Agencies