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John Lloyd resigns as Britain Davis Cup captain

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:38:05 GMT

LONDON(AP) John Lloyd has resigned as Britain's Davis Cup captain after the team lost to Lithuania this month, dropping to the next-to-last level of the competition.

The Lawn Tennis Association also announced Wednesday that American Paul Annacone would no longer be Britain's Davis Cup coach. Instead, he will become the head coach of men's tennis.

Britain, playing without Andy Murray, lost 3-2 in Vilnius on March 7 to a country with only three players ranked in the top 1,000.

Britain must defeat Turkey in July to avoid falling into the bottom tier.

Sampras says he's 'saddened' by Agassi jibes

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Pete Sampras says he still hasn't shrugged off Andre Agassi's imitation of him as a bad tipper during the Hit for Haiti exhibition on Friday night.

"Mostly, this just bums me out," Sampras told the newspaper. "It makes our relationship uncomfortable now... It saddens me.

"We've done this before, the imitating each other. He usually just sticks out his tongue at me."

The 14-time Grand Slam champion could not say whether the incident would have a long-term effect on their relationship. "Time will tell," said Sampras. "I like Andre. I always had great respect for his game. What happened is regrettable. It is a very awkward situation.

In an interview with ESPN's Rick Reilly earlier in the week, Agassi said he had texted Sampras asking if he could apologize personally but had not yet received a response.

Sharapova to play Wimbledon warm-up in June

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:29:25 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)—Maria Sharapova has signed up to play in the Wimbledon grass-court warmup in Birmingham in June.

The 13th-ranked Russian is a two-time champion at the AEGON Classic, having won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.

Sharapova said she is looking forward to playing ``at this important time in the grass court season.''

The Birmingham tournament runs from June 7-13 at the Edgbaston Priory. Wimbledon starts June 21.

Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 for her first Grand Slam title. She has been bother by injuries in the past year.

Federer upset by Baghdatis at Indian Wells

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, California (AP)—Top-ranked Roger Federer wasted three match points and then lost to Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) Tuesday night in a third-round upset result at the BNP Paribas Open.

A joyous Baghdatis bent down and kissed the court after his first win over Federer in seven matches.

Federer hadn’t lost when having a match point since 2006 in Rome.

It was the Swiss star’s second loss in 13 matches this year, and in his first tournament since winning his 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Federer had his third match point on Baghdatis’ serve in the 12th game, but he netted a backhand for deuce. Baghdatis went up and then forced the tiebreaker when Federer mis-hit a backhand return that sailed high over the baseline.

Federer played some loose points in the tiebreaker, committing seven errors that included netting a forehand volley to give Baghdatis a match point, which the Cypriot converted on Federer’s backhand return sailed long.

Federer’s loss leaves the tournament without its top seeds, with Svetlana Kuznetsova already knocked out on the women’s side.

Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the women’s quarterfinals with a win Tuesday. Among the men advancing to the fourth round were No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 7 Andy Roddick, No. 8 Robin Soderling and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Roddick defeated Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 to improve his record to 17-3 this season, all on hardcourts.

He served 10 aces and saved the only service break he faced in the first set.

The seventh-seeded American will next play No. 22 Jurgen Melzer, who advanced when Simon Greul withdrew because of illness.

“Jurgen is always tough. He’s capable of playing a couple different ways,” Roddick said. “He was capable of coming forward, attacking, really being the aggressor, which is always a little bit uncomfortable. It’s important to hang on to your service games.”

Australian Open finalist Murray served seven aces and was broken just once in defeating 31-year-old American Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5.

James Blake lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Nicolas Almagro of Spain, leaving Roddick and John Isner as the only American men left the in draw. Isner faces a tough match against No. 3 Rafael Nadal on Wednesday.

In fourth-round women’s play, No. 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia beat No. 19 Aravane Rezai of France 6-3 6-3, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic routed No. 17 Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-2, and No. 8 Samantha Stosur Australia ousted defending champion Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2, 7-5.

Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over 16th-seeded Nadia Petrova, whose career record against top-five players dropped to 11-42 with the loss.

“It was a match where it just went up and down quite a bit, and I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “It was not really a great rhythm there. I didn’t feel the ball as well.”

She will play Zheng Jie of China, who defeated Australia’s Alicia Molik, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1).

Wozniacki is the highest seeded woman left, with Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin among the big names already gone.

No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. Radwanska and Stosur are the only remaining female players who have yet to drop a set.

Ancic, Henin among Miami wildcards

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Men's Miami wildcards: Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, Mario Ancic, Kei Nishikori, Ryan Harrison.

Women's Miami wildcards: Justine Henin, Anastasia Pivovarova, Arantxa Rus, Jelena Dokic, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Heather Watson, Ajla Tomljanovic, Petra Martic.

Murray, Roddick, Dementieva win at Indian Wells

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:00:12 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Andy Roddick defeated Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open along with Andy Murray, while second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the women’s quarterfinals.

Roddick, a semifinalist here last year, improved his record to 17-3 this season, all on hardcourts. He had an easier time with de Bakker than their first meeting, a three-set win at the Australian Open in January.

Roddick served 10 aces and saved the only service break he faced in the first set of a match played in nearly 90-degree heat.

“The points he was winning he was either having to play a pretty high risk shot, maybe go for a winner, or he was having to go deep into rallies,” Roddick said. “So if you do that over the course of a match, you normally like your chances.”

The seventh-seeded American will next play No. 22 Jurgen Melzer, who advanced when Simon Greul withdrew because of illness.

No. 4 Murray served seven aces and was broken just once in defeating American Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5. At 31, Russell was the oldest player remaining in the men’s field.

“I don’t think I lost my concentration necessarily on the game when I got broken, but he had break point; he had a great backhand,” Murray said. “I would have liked to have closed it out there 3 and 3, but I did well to stay composed at the end.”

In fourth-round women’s play, No. 4 Elena Dementieva beat No. 19 Aravane Rezai of France 6-3 6-3, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic routed No. 17 Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2, and No. 8 Samantha Stosur defeated defending champion Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 7-5.

Top-ranked Roger Federer was to play Marcos Baghdatis in a night match.

Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over 16th-seeded Nadia Petrova, whose career record against top-five players dropped to 11-42 with the loss.

“It was a match where it just went up and down quite a bit, and I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “It was not really a great rhythm there. I didn’t feel the ball as well.”

The Dane will play Jie Zheng of China, who defeated Alicia Molik, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1).

Wozniacki is the highest seeded woman left, with Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin among the big names already gone.

“I don’t feel the pressure,” she said. “I like this tournament.”

No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the quarters for the third consecutive year. Radwanska and Stosur are the only remaining female players who have yet to drop a set.

Other men’s winners included No. 8 Robin Soderling, No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Robredo.

CAS may not hear Wickmayer case for years

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A hearing by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) on Yanina Wickmayer’s suspension for violating anti-doping whereabouts requirements could be delayed for another two to three years while the case is fought in Belgian courts. CAS has informed Wickmayer’s camp that it won’t rule on the case until a decision by the Belgian courts is final.

The 20-year-old Belgian was banned in November for breaking World Anti-Doping Agency regulations by failing to report her whereabouts for drug testing three times. Wickmayer has never failed a doping test, and claims she was not properly informed of the reporting requirements for drug-testing that led to her ban.

In December, Wickmayer won an injunction against the ban by a Belgian civil courts, but the Belgian national anti-doping agency has appealed the ruling.

“I'm focusing on tennis,” said Wickmayer after her 6‑1, 3‑6, 6‑3 win against Roberta Vinci. “I'm not a lawyer. I'm not someone that can do anything about it. I think nobody knows what's going to happen, so we'll just leave it by that.”—Matthew Cronin

Agassi apologizes for poking fun at Sampras

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:34:05 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, California (AP)—Andre Agassi told ESPN.com he was “out of line” and apologized for poking fun at Pete Sampras during a charity match last week.

Longtime rivals Agassi and Sampras were wearing microphones during the match, and the crowd at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California could hear an exchange that started lighthearted but turned testy.

At one point Sampras mimicked Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk, which drew laughs from the crowd.

Then Agassi chided Sampras for being stingy. In his book, Agassi criticized Sampras for being a poor tipper.

Sampras responded with a high, hard serve that forced Agassi, who was partnering Rafael Nadal, to duck.

Both Agassi and Sampras were smiling, but neither showed up at the post-match news conference.

“It was out of line,” Agassi told ESPN.com on Monday. “It was inappropriate. The night was on fire. We were all having fun. I was trying to be comedic. I only had a split second to make a decision. I went for it and it fell flat. I was trying to get past it, but Pete didn’t really let me get past it. He didn’t really roll with it. I’ve texted Pete to ask him if I can apologize in person.”

“The joke fell flat and I’m sorry,” he added. “My hope was that the night was still enjoyable.”

Nadal was asked about Sampras and Agassi after his Monday night match.

“Everybody told me after the match what’s happened, but during the match, you know how fast Americans speak, and I am Spanish. I didn’t understand nothing,” he said.

He said he felt no tension between them either on or off the court.

A capacity crowd of 16,100 filled the stadium for the Hit for Haiti fundraising exhibition Friday night.

The event helped raise $1 million to aid relief efforts in the earthquake-ravaged island nation.

Djokovic survives, Nadal wins at IW; Clijsters out

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:50:04 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Novak Djokovic built up a head of steam while losing nine consecutive games over two sets. He let it out by tossing his ballcap after finally winning a game in the third.

“If I could pull my hair off, I would do it in that moment,” he said.

That wasn’t the only trouble the world’s No. 2 player ran into Monday.

Djokovic staved off triple match point in the third to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3) in third-round play at the BNP Paribas Open.

Kim Clijsters was upset 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) by Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, joining top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, No. 10 Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin on the sidelines before the fourth round.

“You want to see those big names play, but there’s a lot of younger girls who are making it tough,” Clijsters said.

She had won 15 straight matches at Indian Wells, including titles in 2003 and ’05, the last time she played here. But the Belgian, who unretired last year and won the U.S. Open, came unglued after leading 4-0 in the tiebreak. She gave up seven consecutive points to lose.

“I let it slip away,” Clijsters said. “She played some really good points to get back into it. She kept me under pressure. I took my foot off the accelerator. That’s most definitely the wrong thing to do.”

U.S. Davis Cup teammates John Isner and Sam Querry met in the late match.

Djokovic’s countrywoman, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, needed nearly three hours to get by Sara Errani of Italy, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Defending champion Vera Zvonareva advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

Djokovic, the 2008 champion, trailed love-40 on his serve in the 10th game, but got back into the match mostly on Kohlschreiber’s mistakes. The Serb’s forehand volley winner saved the first match point, then Kohlschreiber wasted two consecutive backhands for deuce.

Djokovic’s ace and subsequent double-fault led to a second deuce before two straight errors by the German tied the set at 5-all.

“When I needed to, I did the work, served well and made some good approaches from the forehand side,” Djokovic said. “He could easily be the winner of this match and he would deserve it.”

Kohlschreiber held for his last lead at 6-5, then Djokovic served a love game.

The Serb led 4-0 in the tiebreak before closing out the 2 1/2 -hour match with a forehand winner. Both players struggled with errors in the midday desert sun, with Kohlschreiber committing 51 to 43 for Djokovic.

Defending champion and third-ranked Rafael Nadal needed just over an hour to put away Mario Ancic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-2, in front of a sparse stadium court crowd.

Nadal lost just one first-serve point and never faced a break point in beating Ancic for the fourth time in five meetings. The Spaniard kept the rallies brief, with many not lasting more than five strokes.

“The serve was important, but more important was my rhythm from the baseline,” he said. “I lost only a few points because I didn’t have mistakes, only seven unforced errors in two sets and 29 winners, that’s very good statistics.”

Nadal wore a pair of brown-and-white shorts with a lattice-type pattern and a white shirt with pink highlights.

“It’s more different than usual. That’s the thing, no?” he said about his shorts. “It was a little bit fashion for me. Is too much, a little bit for me, but going to be for this tournament.”

Djokovic was still delighted about meeting Pete Sampras for the first time last week, the 14-time Grand Slam champion whom he called his “lifetime idol.”

“He’s the one that gave me a lot of motivation to became a professional player because I didn’t have anyone playing tennis in my family. I had to do it myself,” Djokovic said.

The 22-year-old went into the meeting believing it was no big deal.

“But it was incredible,” he said. “He tells you, ‘You win with your mind and your heart.’ He promised to hit with me.”

In minor upsets, 17th-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel beat ninth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1; Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated No. 27 Agnes Szavay of Hungary, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; No. 21 Juan Monaco of Argentina beat No. 11 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3; and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain got by No. 26 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Agassi, Sampras rivalry still making headlines

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:28:14 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—An exchange between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras during a charity match has captured the attention of the British tabloids and blogosphere.

The Sun and The Guardian newspapers both had headlines touting the verbal volleys the two former tennis champions and rivals took at each other Friday night. Sports blog Deadspin and The Huffington Post also ran stories about it.

Sampras was teamed with Roger Federer and Agassi with Rafael Nadal in a doubles match during the BNP Paribas Open to raise money for earthquake relief in Haiti.

The players were wearing headset microphones so the crowd could hear them talking.

At one point Sampras mimicked Agassi's pigeon-toed walk.

Agassi, in turn, chided Sampras for being stingy. In his book, Agassi criticized Sampras for being a poor tipper.

Sampras then served high and hard, forcing Agassi to duck out of the way. The crowd laughed throughout and both retired players wore big smiles.

Neither showed up at the post-match news conference.

Federer, Murray win at Indian Wells; Sharapova out

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:30:41 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Roger Federer had to work a little 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 seemed to be mounting against the world’s top-ranked player by winning the final two points of the tiebreaker was dashed 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—including Hanescu’s love service game for 3-1—in the 23-minute set.

The Swiss star, who was playing his first match since winning the Australian Open Jan. 31, had 10 aces and hit 62 winners to offset 39 unforced errors. He will face No. 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 Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 late Sunday night.

Earlier, 2009 tourney runner-up Andy Murray beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4 in another second round match.

Murray, the No. 4 seed, 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 today,” 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 champ. Sharapova, the 10th seed, lost the final 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 lost serve seven times. Jie, an Australian Open semifinalist, lost serve six times.

The men’s field lost No. 5 seed 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 No. 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 of the match with a back problem.

No. 6 Robin Soderling of Sweden and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France moved into the third round, but No. 12 Gael Monfils of France was beaten, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, by Simon Gruel of Germany.

James Blake of the U.S. beat No. 13 David Ferrer of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.

In early third round women’s matches, No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Kirtsen Flipkens of Belgium; and No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Gisela Dulko, the Argentine who had beaten Justine Henin in the second round.

No. 11 Marion Bartoli ousted American Jill Craybas, 6-2, 6-0.

Davydenko sidelined with broken wrist

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

An MRI taken at Indian Wells on Sunday morning reveals that Nikolay Davydenko has a broken left wrist.

He as pulled out of Indian Wells and will be wearing a soft cast for the next month. The fifth-ranked Russian is said to be in danger of missing the whole clay court season. The injury occurred when he fell in the semifinals of Rotterdam last month against Robin Soderling and was apparently mis-diagnosed.

Ivanovic out of Top 50 after early IW loss

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ana Ivanovic has fallen 6-2, 6-4 to Anastasija Sevastova in her opening match at Indian Wells.

Ivanovic, who reached the final last year, will fall out of the top 50 on Monday and could face the prospect of having to play qualifying at some events during the claycourt season.

Ivanovic wept after the loss and said she's having a tough time understanding the impact of losing her form. “I think it's the hardest part. I feel good and I feel confident, so I want to hit the ball like I hit before, and then mistake comes,” she said. “You're like, 'Oh, shall I really go for that or shall I maybe pull back?'"

Clijsters plans to stick to limited schedule

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Kim Clijsters says she’s not going to increase the amount of tournaments she’s going to play, even if she feels she is lacking match play.

Clijsters easily defeanted Barbara Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of Indian Wells, her first match following a stunning loss to Nadia Petrova at the Australian Open more than six weeks ago.

During the first part of her career, Clijsters preferred to play a lot of events to maintain her rhythm, but has now changed her priorities. “To me it's really important to also have the time at home, because otherwise I'm going to go to tournaments and I'm not going to want to be there,” she said. “I think it's really important for me knowing that I can have time at home where I can be housewife and take care of my husband and of Jada, I didn't come back to prove to anybody that I'm a good tennis player. I'm doing this for myself. I think it's my choice, and which is a luxury to have."

Clijsters, who is known for giving long answers in press conferences, finally caught herself. “Jada goes to bed at 7:00 or at 8:00, and I don't even know what time it is. I probably should keep my answers shorter so I get to see her,” she said with a laugh.

Nadal wins; top seed Kuznetsova out at Indian Wells

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:49:38 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Svetlana Kuznetsova had a succinct explanation for losing her opening match at the BNP Paribas Open.

“The tennis ball is perfect. I am not perfect,” the top-seeded Russian said after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 loss to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round on Saturday.

Kuznetsova, who hadn’t played in a month and had a first-round bye, made 69 unforced errors and double-faulted seven times against Suarez Navarro, who arrived here ranked No. 42 in the WTA Tour after reaching the semifinals at Acapulco, Mexico, last week.

“I feel good and the ball doesn’t go where I want it to go, you know. I play there and it goes a different way. I’m like OK, I play tennis for like 17 years and I still cannot put this little ball in this huge court. It’s frustrating. … I’m not the worst player in the world, so definitely I have (the) expectation from myself to put a little bit more inside of the court.”

“It’s frustrating because I know I have the game,” said Kuznetsova, ranked No. 3 overall. “I feel great. I do practice, play unbelievable and then I get to the match and I don’t do much.”

One of the problems, though, was that when Kuznetsova did put the ball in the court, Suarez Navarro usually hit it back. The defensive-minded Spaniard, a winner over Venus Williams in the 2009 Australian Open, found the slow hardcourt perfect for her game and hit only 14 winners (Kuznetsova had 34) in advancing to face No. 27 seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the third round.

Two-time champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium won her second-round match, beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1, and reigning champion Vera Zvonareva if Russia survived a challenge from 16-year-old American Sloane Stephens, winning 6-4, 7-5.

Reigning men’s champion Rafael Nadal, the No. 3 seed, followed Clijsters on the court and worked his way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over German Rainer Schuettler, a semifinalist here in 2003 but a qualifier this year.

No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and American Mardy Fish were scheduled to play Saturday night, in a rematch of the 2008 final won by Djokovic, after reigning women’s champion Vera Zvonareva took on 16-year-old American Sloane Stephens.

Kuznetsova was the only women’s seed to lose during the day session. No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, No. 6 Jelena Jankovic, No. 8 Samantha Stosur, No. 9 Flavia Pennetta and No. 13 Yanina Wickmayer also won in straight sets.

At night, two-time tournament champion Daniela Hantuchova (No. 21), former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic (24) and Dominika Cibulkova (26)were sent packing after straight-set losses.

On the men’s side, No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia took a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and Fernando Verdasco (10) also advanced. Americans John Isner (15) and Sam Querrey (17) both won and will meet in the third round.

But No. 16 Gilles Simon of France was beaten, 7-5, 6-4, by qualifier Brian Dabul of Argentina and No. 8 Marin Cilic of Romania was upset, 7-6 (1), 6-0 by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.