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CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 15: Defending champion Andy Roddick survived a tense first set to beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-2 and take his place in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.
World No 35 Verdasco had two chances to break the American's serve in the opening set but Roddick won the tiebreak 7-3 and then eased to victory.
The third seed will play 16th seed David Ferrer of Spain or unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek, a 7-6, 7-5 winner over American Mardy Fish.
Seventh seed Tommy Robredo of Spain was the highest-ranked casualty of the day, going down 6-4, 6-1 to unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
In first-round matches, twelfth seed Tommy Haas, British 14th seed Andy Murray, and Guillermo Canas, the Argentine 15th seed, all lost.
German Haas was beaten 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 by Croat Mario Ancic, having been two points from victory in the second set, while Canas was ousted 6-2, 6-2 by fellow Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.
Murray, in only his second tournament back after a 12-week absence because of a right wrist injury, was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in just 48 minutes.
Former world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt battled past Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 in a near three-hour marathon.
The Australian let slip a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and had to save four break points in the seventh game before squeezing through to a clash with eighth seed Richard Gasquet.
French qualifier Julien Benneteau set up a clash with top seed Roger Federer by beating Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the runner-up last year, recovered from a break down in the final set to beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
Ninth seed James Blake beat Colombian Alejandro Falla 7-6, 6-1 to reach the second round.
Frenchman Arnaud Clement, American Robby Ginepri, Argentine Juan Monaco and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany also advanced to round two.
Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Second round: 3-Andy Roddick (US) beat Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat 7-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-4, 6-1
First round: Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat 14-Andy Murray (Britain) 6-1, 6-2; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Mardy Fish (US) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-6 (9-7); Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5); Arnaud Clement (France) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-4, 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5; Juan Monaco
(Argentina) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Julien Benneteau (France) beat Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Robby Ginepri (US) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-3, 6-3.
KUZNETSOVA WINS ON RETURN
TORONTO: Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova brushed off the rust from a month-long layoff by dispatching Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-2, 7-6 to reach the third round of the Toronto Cup on Tuesday.
Seeing her first action since a quarter-final loss to Venus Williams at Wimbledon, the Russian had looked poised for a stress-free return to the courts but was forced to dig deep to put away a stubborn Vinci.
After blasting through the first set in 29 minutes, the 2004 US Open champion needed an hour to prevail in a tense second set finally clinching the match in a tie-break 9-7.
Kuznetsova will next play the winner of American Meghann Shaughnessy and Czech Lucie Safarova for a place in the quarter-finals.
Also booking spots in the third round were Israeli 11th seed Shahar Peer with a 6-3, 6-2 win over doubles partner Tathiana Garbin of Italy and China's Shuai Peng, who advanced when 14th seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia retired in the second set with a viral illness trailing 6-1, 4-2.
In opening-round action, Italian qualifier Maria Elena Camerin provided the first upset of the tournament, disposing of 15th seed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-4, 6-3.
It was also a good day for the home crowd with three Canadians safely through to the second round for the first time 16 years.
Leading the Canuck charge was Stephanie Dubois with a shock 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 win over Japan's Ai Sugiyama.
Aleksandra Wozniak booked her spot when Russia's Anastasia Rodionova retired with a strained left quadricep down 6-4, 5-0 while Marie-Eve Pelletier and Ekaterina Shulaeva were playing in an all-Canadian nightcap.
Tuesday’s results:
Second round: 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7); Peng Shuai (China) beat 14-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) 6-1, 4-2 – Srebotnik retired; 11-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 6-3, 6-2.
First round: Marie-Eve Pelletier (Canada) beat Ekaterina Shulaeva
(Canada) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) beat Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-4, 5-0 – Rodionova retired; Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Martina Mueller (Germany) 6-1, 6-3; Meghann Shaughnessy (US) beat Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Stephanie Dubois (Canada) beat Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5; 13-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Emilie Loit (France) 6-1, 6-2; Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) beat Meilen Tu (US) 6-3, 6-1; Virginie Razzano (France) beat Aravane Rezai (France) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) 6-4, 7-5; Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) beat 15-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-4, 6-3; Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-2, 6-3.—Reuters
