Roddick loses in second round

MIAMI, March 22 (UPI) -- After breaking through at this event a year ago, Andy Roddick of the United States crashed out in the second round Friday at the NASDAQ 100 Open.

Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina knocked out the 10th-seeded Roddick, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

On the women's side, No. 3 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and No. 8 Serena Williams of the United States cruised into the third round.

Roddick, the youngest player to finish in the men's top 20 last year at 19 years, four months, asserted himself as a force in his first full year on tour at the 2001 Miami event. He surprised former world No. 1s Marcelo Rios of Chile and Pete Sampras to reach the quarterfinals.

"I just felt like I was fighting out there. Nothing was really clean the whole day," Roddick said. "I don't know if there's one thing that caused it. I think (it was) just a bad day. He played better than I did."

A Florida resident, Roddick committed 37 unforced errors in his first match since withdrawing from the Indian Wells tournament due to an upper respiratory infection.

Meanwhile, Chela continues to enhance his reputation. He advanced to the final at Sydney, made the semifinals at the Buenos Aires and Acapulco claycourt events and took Andre Agassi to a third set in their quarterfinal encounter at Scottsdale.

"The last game was the key to the whole match," Chela said through a translator. "That he (Roddick) made a few mistakes in that last game with his backhand and probably that made (Chela) win the match. But the key was that last game. It was a very tight match."

The 22-year-old Chela has a third-round matchup with 24th-seeded Nicolas Escude. The Frenchman defeated Brazil's Fernando Meligeni, 6-4, 6-4.

In second-round women's action, Hingis recorded five service breaks and required just 50 minutes to dispose of Janet Lee of Taipei, 6-1, 6-0.

A former world No. 1, Hingis coasted in her first match since Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia surprised her in the final of the Pacific Life Open on Saturday.

Hingis, the 1997 and 2000 Miami champion, meets Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus in the third round. Poutchek upset No. 31 Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-3, 0-6, 6-0.

Williams recorded 34 winners on her way to a 7-5, 6-1 win over fellow American Lilia Osterloh.

With Williams holding a 5-4 edge in the opening set, the match was delayed due to rain. But after the break, Williams won eight of the final 10 games to close it out.

"I've been known to play some horrendous first matches and go ahead and win the tournament," Williams said. "I just think it's good to get your first match done and over with."

Williams awaits the winner of the second-round match between No. 29 Cristina Torrens Valero of Spain and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Agassi, the ninth seed and defending men's champion, cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Britain's Greg Rusedski, 6-3, 6-1. Last year, Agassi beat fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill in straight sets to win his fourth Miami crown.

Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the third seed, and France's Sebastien, the seventh seed, also had easy passages to the third round. Kafelnikov rolled over Tommy Robredo of Spain, 6-4, 6-0. Grosjean handled Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 6-1, 6-4.

Kafelnikov will take on the winner of the second-round match between Rios, the 31st seed, and American wild-card entrant Mardy Fish. Grosjean will encounter Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, who eliminated No. 29 Rainer Schuettler of Germany, 6-3, 6-3.

No. 16 Alex Corretja got past fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4. That sets up a third-round meeting with No. 22 Hicham Arazi of Morocco, who defeated another Spaniard, Francisco Clavet, 6-2, 7-5.

In other men's action, Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti, the 20th seed, beat Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, 6-2, 6-4; Argentina's Guillermo Coria knocked off Spain's Albert Costa, the 25th seed, 6-2, 6-3; and Romania's Adrian Voinea outlasted Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, the 30th seed, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6).

On the women's side, No. 7 Jelena Dokic handled Marlene Weingartner of Germany, 6-3, 6-2. The Yugoslavian awaits the winner of the match between No. 26 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine.

In an all-American third-round matchup, No. 10 Meghann Shaughnessy will take on Marissa Irvin. Shaughnessy defeated Canada's Vanessa Webb, 6-4, 6-4, and Irvin upset Czech Daja Bedanova, the 20th seed, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.