MIAMI, March 28: World number one Roger Federer survived a second-round scare to squeeze past Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-2 3-6 7-5 at the Nasdaq-100 Open on Saturday.
Having overcome a poor start to level the match, Davydenko threatened to bring the Wimbledon champion's winning run to a shuddering halt in a tight third set. It took Federer until 5-5 in the decider before he could break the Davydenko serve and drag himself to safety.
The Swiss has now won 12 matches in a row, including back-to-back titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. Federer also took the honours at the Australian Open and has been beaten only once in 20 matches this year. His sole defeat was at the hands of Tim Henman in Rotterdam last month.
World number two Andy Roddick burst through to the third round with a 6-2 6-4 win over Slovak Karol Beck. Despite a lightning start, Andre Agassi had to battle his way past Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta 6-0 7-6 (7-1).
Australian Open runner-up Marat Safin tumbled out, losing 7-6 6-7 6-4 to in-form American Vince Spadea.
VENUS WINS: In the women's draw, second seed Venus Williams put out China's Jie Zheng 6-4 6-4 to join her sister Serena in the third round.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Women's second round Kristina Brandi beat 19-Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5 4-6 7-5 5-Elena Dementieva beat Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie 6-4 6-1 27-Daniela Hantuchova beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-0 20-Lisa Raymond beat Tatiana Panova 5-7 7-5 6-1 21-Nathalie Dechy beat Tatiana Perebiynis 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 10-Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anne Kremer 7-5 6-3 Shenay Perry beat 16-Fabiola Zuluaga 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-1 7-Vera Zvonereva beat Tathiana Garbin 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 2-Venus Williams beat Jie Zheng 6-4 6-4 8-Nadia Petrova beat Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-2 26-Maria Sanchez Lorenzo beat Saori Obata 3-6 6-4 6-2 13-Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi beat Rita Grande 6-1 6-3 9-Paola Suarez beat Denisa Chladkova 6-1 6-2 12-Jelena Dokic beat Nicole Pratt walkover (Pratt withdrew injured) Gisela Dulko beat Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-4 4-1, retired (Kutuzova withdrew injured) 32-Emilie Loit beat Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 24-Alicia Molik beat Amy Frazier 4-6 7-5 6-2 11-Silvia Farina Elia beat Mara Santangelo 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 15-Francesca Schiavone beat Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-1 6-3 Vera Douchevina beat 28-Lina Krasnoroutskaya (Russia) 6-0 7-5
Men's second round Juan Monaco beat 18-Gustavo Kuerten 6-1 3-6 7-5 Jan Hernych beat 11-Mark Philippoussis 6-4 6-2 28-Max Mirnyi beat Franco Squillari 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 4-Andre Agassi beat Mariano Zabaleta 6-0 7-6 (7-1) Guillermo Canas beat 13-Sjeng Schalken 6-1 3-0 defaulted (verbal abuse) Xavier Malisse beat 22-Albert Costa 6-4 6-2 1-Roger Federer beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 3-6 7-5 5-Carlos Moya beat David Sanchez 4-6 6-4 6-4 2-Andy Roddick beat Karol Beck 6-2 6-4 21-Fernando Gonzalez beat Karol Kucera 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 12-Sebastien Grosjean beat Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-4 9-Paradorn Srichaphan beat Ricardo Mello 6-1 1-6 6-3 Thierry Ascione beat 23-Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 26-Jonas Bjorkman beat Taylor Dent (U.S.) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 Vincent Spadea beat 31-Marat Safin 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 20-Agustin Calleri beat Lars Burgsmuller 6-3 7-5 14-Jiri Novak beat Stefan Koubek 6-4 6-0 27-Dominik Hrbaty beat Bohdan Ulihrach 6-3 3-6 6-3 Radek Stepanek beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) Todd Reid beat 15-Martin Verkerk 4-6 6-4 7-5 19-Tommy Robredo beat Olivier Rochus 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3). - Reuters
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