Hewitt scrambles into third round

PARIS, May 29 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt was pushed to a fourth-set tiebreaker Thursday before ousting Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to advance to the third round of the French Open.

Hewitt needed 3 1/2 hours to dispatch Davydenko after being on the court for more than three hours in a four-set victory over American Brian Vahaly in the first round.

"It was a tough match but then, I expected a tough match going in," Hewitt said. "He's a grinder and he's going to run a lot of balls down. He hits the ball very sweet from the back of the court, so I knew I was going to have to hit a lot of balls."

Davydenko, a claycourt specialist who won in Estoril earlier this year and was a finalist recently in Sankt Polten, took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker, but collapsed with six unfored errors.

Hewitt has reached the fourth round in his last four appearances in the French Open, but has yet to win the title at Roland Garros. He could face another tough match in the third round against Spain's Tommy Robredo, the No. 28 seed, who advanced with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman.

Defending champion Albert Costa of Spain, the ninth seed, survived his second straight five-set match, reaching the third round with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, United States fortunes continue to sag as James Blake and Todd Martin were ousted on the fourth day of the tournament, leaving No. 2 Andre Agassi and Vince Spadea as the only Americans left in the men's draw.

And Agassi is fortunate to still be in Paris as he rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Croatia's Mario Ancic on Wednesday.

Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic knocked off the 24th-ranked Blake, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in a match suspended after three sets Wednesday because of darkness.

No. 25 Tim Henman of Britain ousted Martin, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

American women fared much better as No. 3 Venus Williams, No. 6 Lindsay Davenport and No. 7 Jennifer Capriati advanced to the third round.

Williams, however, got a much tougher-than-expected fight, needing three sets to post a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Australia's Evie Dominikovic, the world's 110th ranked player who was celebrating her 23rd birthday.

Williams, who lost to her sister, Serena, in the finals here last year, committed 68 unforced errors and lost her serve five times, including twice in a row in the second set.

Seeking a fifth Grand Slam title, Venus may still be a little rusty as she missed nearly a month with a strained abdominal muscle.

"I definitely can't stay at that (high) level and continue to do as well as I'd like to do in this tournament," she said. "I need to play more points and I need to not rush my shots. I just think I have to hit the right shots at the right times more than anything else."

Davenport, who never has reached the finals here, got past Iroda Tulyaganova of the Ukraine, 7-5, 6-1. Davenport improved to 3-0 lifetime against Tulyaganova, the world's 34th-ranked player, and reached the third round here for the first time since 1999.

Davenport struggled with her serve, facing 10 break points, but won nine of the final 10 games. She missed Roland Garros the last two years because of knee injuries and lost in the opening round in 2000.

"I think it wasn't a very high level of tennis," said Davenport, who saved three set points in the first set. "It was one of those days where you're lucky your opponent doesn't play great and you're lucky to get through. I just kind of did what I had to do to win the match."

Davenport may not be as fortunate in the third round as she faces No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium, who had another easy match as she routed Germany's Marlene Weingartner, 6-2, 6-2. A finalist here in 2001 and the girlfriend of Hewitt, Clijsters needed only 45 minutes to oust American Amy Frazier in the opening round.

Capriati, the 2001 French Open champion who is seeking a fourth Grand Slam tile, overcame a partisan crowd to dispatch 16-year-old Frenchwomen Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-0.

"She didn't play as well as I thought she would and there really weren't a lot of rallies out there," Capriati said. "But I still played well and hit my shots."

Slovenia's Tina Pisnik pulled off the day's biggest upset in the women's draw, ousting No. 10 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

"It was just one of those days where I gave too many points away," Dokic said. "I'm just low on confidence and I need to get my confidence up. My game is based on confidence and rhythm. I got as far as I could with my natural talent."

On the men's side, No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain faced a potentially difficult match against Chile's Nicolas Massu but advanced when Massu retired in the second set with an ankle injury. Ferrero was leading, 6-2, 3-0, at the time.

Massu was hampered by the injury in his first-round win over Sweden's Jonan Bjorkman.

"I think it's very bad luck for him and very good luck for me," Ferrero said. "The only thing I am sorry about is that the people did not get the chance to see the match."

The hometown fans did have something to cheer about as No. 8 David Nalbandian of Argentina was upset by France's Nicolas Coutelot, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 6-1. Nalbandian battled his emotions throughout the match, slamming his racket on several occasions.

Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, the No. 15 seed, barely broke a sweat in a 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 romp over Morocco's Hicham Arazi. Kuerten, who won at Roland Garros in 1997, 2000 and 2001, improved to 6-0 lifetime against Arazi.

No. 12 Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands ousted Fabrice Santoro of France, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. Santoro bounced former champion Michael Chang in the opening round.

Spain's Fernando Vicente knocked off another Frenchman, defeating No. 14 Sebastien Grosjean, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-3.

No. 19 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile advanced with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spain's Fernando Gonzalez.

Other seeded players to reach the third round included No. 20 Felix Mantilla of Spain, No. 21 Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, No. 30 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and No. 32 Arnaud Clement of France.

Advancing on the women's side were No. 15 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, No. 22 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, No. 24 Conchita Martinez of Spain, No. 25 Nathalie Dechy of France, No. 26 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy and No. 30 Paola Suarez of Argentina.

Suarez posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over American Corina Moraiu, who was playing in her first tournament since being sidelined last year with a torn rotator cuff.