Nadal struggles past Kohlschreiber as Blake, Hewitt advance

By Bill Scott Jan 18, 2007, 15:19 GMT

Rafael Nadal of Spain. EPA/Martin Philbey

Melbourne - Second seed Rafael Nadal needed to grind to secure a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber and book a place in the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Spain's double French Open champion is playing the event for the first time since 2005 after missing last year with a foot injury.

The 61st-ranked Kohlschreiber made a match of it against the seed,

forcing Nadal to battle for his win. The Spaniard won the first two sets but ran into trouble during a run of five consecutive breaks of serve in the third set.

Kohlschreiber secured that set with a concluding break. Nadal struck back in the four with a double break before finally escaping after almost three and a half hours.

Before going down, the German saved a match point.

'I fell very good. I beat a tough player,' said Nadal. 'I lost some confidence in the third set when he broke me three times, but finally I won the match.

'It was important to win this tough match, it was a good test, it was a good win.'

On-form American James Blake claimed his seventh match in a row while Lleyton Hewitt lived up to his hometown hero status with a victory.

Blake, seeded fifth and champion last weekend in Sydney, dispatched fellow American Alex Kuznetsov, coming back from a double break down in the opening set to advance to the third round 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

'I had a little bit of a slow start, but Alex played well at the beginning,' said Blake. 'But I didn't panic and I'm happy about that.

'I just kept going about my business and trying to get back one point at a time. Before I knew it, I was back in the set and had a set point and took advantage.'

As is his tradition, Blake will not be shaving until he loses.

Hewitt, the 2005 runner-up to Marat Safin, used his experience to grind out a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over untried Canadian Frank Dancevic, playing in only his third match at a Grand Slam.

In the first round, Dancevic recorded the first Grand Slam win by a Canadian since 2003 Wimbledon.

Former number 1 Hewitt is trying to stop the rot on a ranking which has dropped to 19th. The Aussie had to scramble through in five sets in the first round, surviving from two sets to love down to beat American qualifier Michael Russell.

'It's fantastic to be through to the third round,' said the winner.

'I've had a lot of practise in my first two matches.

'I felt I got off to a better start today. Dancevic a flashy kind of player, his serve got better as the match went along.

'I had to bide my time, it was not my best serving day, but I got out of it,' he said after notching 14 aces.

There were also wins for seeds David Nalbandian, Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray.

On the women's side, tennis pals Kim Clijsters and Martin Hingis finished off wins within a few moments of each other.

Top seed Maria Sharapova showed a complete recovery from her sweltering first-round struggle, nailing down an untroubled victory over fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova 6-0, 6-3 in a bid for a third Grand Slam title.

It was a sprint to the finish for both former Clijsters and Hingis, with Clijsters polishing off Japan's 86th-ranked Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0 in 59 minutes.

It took 1997-1999 Melbourne champion Hingis a handful of additional minutes before cementing a win over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 6-2.

Clijsters explained the race to the finish line.

'We were waiting to be escorted to court and she said she wanted to out, and she's like, 'I hope I'm going to get here before you get here.' We were joking and laughing. But it's fun. That's what's so good about it.

'We're friends off the court, and you can laugh and say those kind of things. But once you get on the court, if we get to play each other, it's all business.'

Sixth seed Hingis, 25, in the second year of her comeback after a three-year retirement, was no match for number 134 Kudryavtseva, a first-round loser in qualifying at all four majors last season.

'It was good that I went ahead quickly and then I just didn't have as much pressure on my shoulders,' said Hingis. 'It's another match under the roof, I knew that we were going to get on.

'It took me a little time to adjust what she was playing like, most of the time crosscourt. I got it after a few games.'

Four more seeds joined in with wins.

Russian number 9 Dinara Safina thrashed Youlia Fedossova of France 6-3, 6-2 while another Russian, number 12 Anna Chakvetadze, beat American Laura Granville 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Serb 13th seed Ana Ivanovic, who came up with a title and a final in her first two events of the season, moved ahead past Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, the number 15, defeated Emilie Loit of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4