Monday March 29, 2004

Federer suffers a fright

MIAMI: 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.

“I was very concerned,” Federer said. “I was not feeling well today. There are incredible winds here so it’s difficult to play. It was a tough one, I didn’t think I was going to turn it around.”

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.

He next plays Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

“I think he’s already proven he’s a great player,” said Federer. “I look forward to playing a player like him.”

World number two Andy Roddick burst through to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Slovak Karol Beck.

The US Open champion now faces Jonas Bjorkman in a match that will be closely watched by US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe. Roddick and Bjorkman could meet when the US take on Sweden in the Davis Cup quarter-finals next month.

Despite a lightning start, Andre Agassi had to battle his way past Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).

“To win 6-0 you need to have a lot of things go right for you but a few things don’t go right and the match is very close to being difficult,” said Agassi. “Sure enough it turned into a dogfight and it was good to get through it.”

Australian Open runner-up Marat Safin tumbled out, losing 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to in-form American Vince Spadea.

“I’m not satisfied with my performance today,” said Safin. “This is a match I should have won.

“I couldn’t take my chances and every time he had a chance he took it. Those kind of matches you have to win no matter what, even if you play badly.”

Spadea, 29, won his first title in 223 attempts in Scottsdale three weeks ago and his hot streak of form was too much for the erratic Russian, who was seeded 31.

Dutchman Sjeng Schalken was disqualified after losing his temper against Guillermo Canas and hurling a volley of abuse at the chair umpire.

Number 13 seed Schalken, who had an exemplary disciplinary record before the match, was defaulted for verbal abuse with Argentine Canas leading 6-1, 3-0.

Frustrated by his display, Schalken hit a ball high into the stands over Irish umpire Fergus Murphy’s head. He received a warning for ball abuse and his heated reaction, which included foul language, earned him disqualification.

Ninth seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand survived a second-set scare to beat Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Mello 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

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.

“She was a very good player,” said Williams. “She played a different rhythm to most players. I always knew I was going to win the match but I wasn’t that consistent.”

Former world No 1 Venus missed six months of last year with an abdominal injury and is playing only her fourth event of this season. So far in 2004 she has failed to get past the quarter-finals of any tournament.

“I still feel like I’m the same player and it’s only a matter of time before I get the same results,” said Williams.

Jelena Dokic, the 12th seed, was given a walkover when her opponent, Australian Nicole Pratt, had to withdraw before the match with an abdominal strain. – Reuters

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