Roger Federer had to work a harder than expected Sunday night before beating Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Hanescu won a set from Federer for the first time in their five meetings. But the challenge the Romanian mounted against the world’s top-ranked player by winning the tiebreaker was eroded quickly in the final set.
Federer, a two-time champion of this event, lost five points while winning the first three games of the final set and just 13 points in all in the 23-minute set.
The Swiss star, who was playing his first tour match since winning the Australian Open, had 10 aces and hit 62 winners to offset 39 unforced errors. He will face number 27 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cypress in the third round.
“I was happy with the way I played,” Federer said. “Not having played for so long, I thought it was a good match overall. Missed maybe some of the clutch serving when I really needed it, but that’s something that happens.”
Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick, Federer’s potential opponent in the quarterfinals, beat qualifier Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 later on Sunday night.
Fourth-seeded Andy Murray, losing finalist here last year, beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4 in another second round match.
Murray was visibly unhappy with his play throughout the 86-minute match, repeatedly gesturing and talking to himself after errant shots.
Afterward the 22-year-old Scot headed for the practice court.
“It was a pretty scrappy match,” Murray said. “Even though it was relatively comfortable, still some tight moments. Then it was just to go and hit a few more balls and get used to the conditions.
“When you haven’t played for a long time you have to expect not to play your best in the first match out. I’m sure next round out I’ll feel fine.”
The women’s tournament that began with six former champions in the field is down to two following Zheng Jie’s 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova, the 2006 winner. The 10th-seeded Sharapova lost the last four games after getting treatment on her right elbow while leading, 3-2, and preparing to serve in the third set.
Sharapova, who said she had trouble extending the elbow, had 14 double faults and dropped serve seven times. Zheng, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, dropped six service games.
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 6-0, 6-3.
Wozniacki (19) is the tournament favourite following top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova’s loss to Carla Suarez Navarro on Saturday.The men’s field lost number five Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who withdrew after tests revealed he had a fracture in his
left wrist. He is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks.
The beneficiary of Davydenko’s misfortune is number 29 seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who has played just one game but is in the fourth round.
Troicki had a first-round bye and his opponent in the second round, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, withdrew after the first game with a back problem.
Number six Robin Soderling of Sweden and number nine Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France moved into the third round, but number 12 Gael Monfils of France was beaten 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 by Simon Gruel of Germany.
American James Blake beat number 13 David Ferrer of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.
In early third-round women’s matches, number four Elena Dementieva was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Kirtsen Flipkens of Belgium; and number five Agnieszka Radwanska was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Gisela Dulko, the Argentine who beat Justine Henin in the second round. – Sapa-AP