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Friday August 14, 2009

Nadal has it easy

MONTREAL: Rafael Nadal survived a battle of creaky knees against David Ferrer on Wednesday, the fellow Spaniard retiring hurt from their second round match at the Montreal Masters to gift the world number two a comeback win.

Sidelined for more than two months with tendonitis in both knees, Nadal’s tender joints were in the spotlight for his first singles match since his shock loss to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the French Open in May.

But it was Ferrer’s left knee that became the talking point after he abruptly retired when trailing 4-3 in the opening set.

Having betrayed little sign of discomfort, and having dominated play at times against his Davis Cup team-mate, Ferrer’s withdrawal prompted gasps and groans from the centre court crowd.

The 27-year-old world number 19 said he had aggravated a knee injury that had troubled him before Wimbledon.

Ferrer’s retirement whisked Nadal into a third-round meeting with Philipp Petzschner of Germany, but the brief 37-minute workout answered few questions about the former world number one’s own fitness.

“I need more days to have a real test but it was ok,” Nadal said. “I tried everything 100 per cent but when you come back from injury, it’s difficult to move well the first match.

“Everything is positive, every match, every point. Everything is helping me be ready as soon as possible to return to my level.”

Tennis fans got better value for money during the day session, when resurgent Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated 13th seed Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 7-6 to move into the third round.

American fifth seed Andy Roddick, another player enjoying a career revival this season, also advanced with a tidy 6-1 7-6 win over Russian Igor Andreev.

Sixth-seeded Juan Martin Del Porto of Argentina defeated Czech Jan Hernych 6-2, 7-5, while seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France survived a scare to beatover Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Power up: Kateryna Bondarenko returns a volley to Serena Williams at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday. Williams won 6-3, 6-2. — AP

CINCINNATI (Ohio): Second-seeded Serena Williams cruised into the third round of the Cincinnati Open here on Wednesday as Belgian Kim Clijsters kept her comeback on track with a straight sets victory.

Williams needed little more than an hour to dispatch Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-3, 6-2, firing 13 aces past the unseeded Ukrainian.

Clijsters, back after a two-year absence, kept her comeback on course with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder. Hungary’s Melinda Czink notched the upset of the day, toppling 11th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. — Agencies

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