CINCINNATI (Ohio) Aug 18: American Andy Roddick kept the crowd on their edge of their seats at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday night after he fought back from a set down to overcome Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-7 7-6 6-2 to reach the third round.
Earlier, world number one Roger Federer, third seed Lleyton Hewitt and number four Marat Safin all advanced following three-set struggles, while Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian and Tim Henman all tumbled out.
Earlier, Federer, playing just his second match since winning his third successive Wimbledon title six weeks ago, produced a sluggish and inconsistent performance but still managed to beat German Nicolas Kiefer 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Results (second round): Dominik Hrbaty bt Robin Soederling 6-4 7-6(6); Mario Ancic bt Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-6(6); Luis Horna bt Guillermo Coria 6-4 6-4; Roger Federer bt Nicolas Kiefer 4-6 6-4 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez bt David Nalbandian 3-6 6-1 6-2; Olivier Rochus bt Fabrice Santoro 7-5 6-3; Gael Monfils bt Karol Beck 6-1 7-6(6); Lleyton Hewitt bt Greg Rusedski 1-6 7-5 6-4; Carlos Moya bt Gilles Simon 7-6(5) 7-5; Robby Ginepri bt David Ferrer 6-4 6-3; Andy Roddick bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2; Juan Ignacio Chela bt 12-Tim Henman 6-4 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny bt Tomas Berdych 4-6 7-6(4) 7-6(3); Nikolay Davydenko bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2 6-2; Marat Safin bt Andy Murray 6-4 1-6 6-1; Jose Acasuso beat Tommy Robredo 7-6(6) 6-2
Seeded four, Belgium’s Henin-Hardenne played with her right hamstring wrapped in a bandage but it did not seem to hinder her movement as she had little difficulty overcoming the Argentine qualifier.
Earlier in the day, fifth-seeded Williams became the sixth top-20 player to withdraw from the tournament in the past week.
Results (second round): Hana Sromova bt Rika Fujiwara 4-6 7-5 6-0; Jie Zheng bt Ai Sugiyama 2-6 7-6(8) 6-3; Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-1 6-3; Conchita Martinez bt Dinara Safina 7-5 6-2; Nadia Petrova bt Sesil Karatantcheva 4-6 6-1 6-4; Kim Clijsters bt Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-0; Ana Ivanovic bt Marion Bartoli 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3); Flavia Pennetta bt Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4 6-2; Anastasia Myskina bt Laura Granville 6-3 5-7 6-2; Shinobu Asagoe bt Alina Jidkova 6-4 6-3; Gisela Dulko bt Tatiana Golovin 2-6 6-0 6-1; Nicole Vaidisova bt Nathalie Dechy 6-2 6-4; Na Li beat Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2.—Agencies