Federer, Roddick Advance; Hewitt Falls In Miami
POSTED: 10:14 pm CST March 25,
2006
Miami, FL -- (Sports Network) - Swiss superstar Roger Federer and American Andy Roddick were second-round winners Saturday, while former world No. 1 Aussie Lleyton Hewitt gave way to Tim Henman at the $3.45 million NASDAQ-100 Open, the second of nine Masters Series events this year.The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer needed three sets to get past speedy Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0 at Crandon Park. Federer beat Spanish star Rafael Nadal in last year's Miami final and was the 2002 runner- up here to Andre Agassi. Federer cruised in sets one and three against Clement, who forced a third set by overcoming a love-4 deficit in the second-set tiebreak. The 24-year-old Federer prevailed in just under two hours with the help of six service breaks. Federer is now 23-1 this season, including titles at Doha, the Australian Open and last week at Indian Wells, where he defeated Blake in the final. He's won 63 of his last 64 matches on hardcourts. Up next for the amazing Federer will be dangerous German Tommy Haas. On a cold night in Miami, Roddick brought plenty of heat, reaching 138 miles per hour on an early serve that set the tone in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Spain's Alberto Martin. Roddick, the 2004 NASDAQ-100 champion, brought his top serve with him to South Florida, tallying nine aces without a double fault in the 55-minute straight- set victory. The fourth-seeded Roddick will meet another Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, in the third round. Verdasco, seeded 31st, needed three sets to dispose of American Vincent Spadea 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Ninth-seeded James Blake, fresh off his runner-up finish at the Pacific Life Open, double-bageled helpless Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-0, 6-0. Blake has now won 11 of his last 12 matches, including a hardcourt title in Las Vegas three weeks ago. The 13th-seeded Hewitt lost to his fellow former top-10 star Henman 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Hewitt has lost two straight and three of his last four matches, including a setback against Blake in the final in Las Vegas earlier this month. Hewitt wasn't the only higher seed sent packing, as No. 8 Argentine Gaston Gaudio fell in two hard-fought sets to Belgian Kristof Vliegen 7-5, 7-6 (8-6). Diminutive seventh-seeded Guillermo Coria of Argentina fared much better, shaking off some early rust to defeat Serb Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-1. In other top-16 seed action, No. 11 Spaniard David Ferrer throttled his compatriot Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-1 and Russian Dmitry Tursunov tripped up No. 14 Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 7-6 (7-0). The former top-ranked Ferrero has struggled over the last two years. Unheralded German Simon Greul knocked out 17th-seeded Slovak Dominik Hrbaty 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, while 19th-seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean got past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), a 27th-seeded Haas humbled Peru's Luis Horna 6-0, 6-3 and No. 32 Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela downed Britain's Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-4. A hot Haas has won 14 of his last 16 matches, including titles in Delray Beach and Memphis. Finland's Jarkko Nieminen held off Aussie Mark Philippoussis 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), pushing the 23rd seed into the third round, where Nieminen will square off against Blake. Twenty-fourth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia slipped past Swiss George Bastl in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Belgium's Oliver Rochus also advanced to the third round, as the 29th seed was pushed the distance by Max Mirnyi of Belarus before winning the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Copyright 2006 Courtesy of The Sports Network.







