INDIAN WELLS, California, 14 March 2005 — Third seed Andy Roddick and last year’s runner-up Tim Henman survived tough opening matches at the Pacific Life Open Masters Series event on Saturday.
By contrast, world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova cruised to victories in the women’s competition. Roddick was pushed all the way before he edged Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in a second round tussle. Troubled by the left-hander’s big forehand, Roddick needed to serve smartly late in the match and played an almost error-free tiebreak to close out the contest.
Sixth seed Henman almost wilted in the searing desert temperatures before tightening up his aggressive game in the last two sets to squeeze past Frenchman Arnaud Clement 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in another second round match.
But compatriot Greg Rusedski was not so fortunate when he fell to 17th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6, 7-6.
Ninth seed Andre Agassi brushed aside Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 6-1 and there were also victories for fifth seed Guillermo Coria, No. 10 David Nalbandian and No. 12 Tommy Robredo.
Sharapova wasted little time ousting American Angela Haynes 6-1, 6-2 in the second round to record her ninth straight win, following title successes in Tokyo and Doha.
The Russian teenager now faces 25th-seeded fellow countrywoman Dinara Safina, who defeated American Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-2, 6-4. World No. 3 Sharapova re-stated her desire to grab the top ranking from Davenport, who put out Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-2.
Sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova also progressed while 15-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova stunned 11th seed Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
