TENNIS/Australian Open Championships: Rafael Nadal was one point away from losing the first set before rallying to take command of his first-round match with American Robert Kendrick to move into the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The pair were forced to play under a closed roof at the Rod Laver Arena after scorching temperatures in Melbourne made play on the outside courts impossible - and meant play was still going on at 3am - and Nadal overcame a difficult first set to progress in straight sets.
The first set was decided 8-6 in a tiebreaker, after which the second seed upped the tempo and closed out the remaining sets 6-3 6-2.
The 20-year-old said: "(It was) a good start for me. I had a very difficult first set.
"(It) was important for me win the first tiebreak. After that, the match changed a little bit. It was easy after that."
In other matches, American James Blake, in a repeat of last week's International final in Sydney, proved too good for Spaniard Carlos Moya as he charged to a 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 6-4 win.
Despite struggling early in the match and almost stumbling in the first-set tiebreak, the result eventually was the same as Blake, making the most of the controlled conditions under the roof of the Vodafone Arena, sealed victory.
The American, though, was disappointed to have knocked a player of Moya's quality out so early in the tournament.
"He is a great player. It's tough," Blake said. "I really wish that would have been a second-week match because I think he's playing well enough to be in the second week and to be top 10 again, like he's been.
"He's a great champion. He fights hard for every point, every match. He competed hard today."
Eighth seed David Nalbandian, meanwhile, had to claw his way back from the brink of defeat early in the day against Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
Braving the unrelenting sun, out on the Margaret Court Arena, the world number eight made life difficult for himself after dropping the first two sets 6-7 (5-7) 4-6.
However, just as the prospect of an early exit was looming large, last year's semi-finalist rallied and moved into the lead 7-6 (7-2) 6-0 2-1 before Tipsarevic retired.
The Argentinian admitted he thought the match was beyond him after in the first two sets.
"I thought I was going to be on the plane back home," he joked. "It was very difficult. I was two sets down and 5-2 double break. I wasn't playing very good, and he was playing the match on his own. He couldn't make it and I took the chance."
In stark contrast to Nalbandian's performance, Russian Nikolay Davydenko breezed through his opening-round match with a 6-2 7-5 6-2 win over Argentinian Sergio Roitman.
Number 13 seed Tomas Berdych booked a second-round berth before play was abandoned on the outside courts, defeating Korean Hyung-Taik Lee 6-1 6-2 6-2, while defeated quarter-finalist in 2006, Sebastien Grosjean, was also lucky to get his match out of the way before the heat made play almost unbearable.
Taking the first set 6-2, the Frenchman looked in deft form as he cantered out to a 4-1 lead in the second before Belgian Christophe Rochus retired from the match with breathing difficulties.
In the evening, top local hope Lleyton Hewitt was down two sets and a break in the third before he found his rhythm to progress 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 against American qualifier Michael Russell.
The biggest scalp to be claimed on day two was that of number 23 seed Robin Soderling of Sweden, who was dispatched by German Florian Mayer 3-6 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-0, while number 29 seed Xavier Malisse and number 32 seed Nicolas Almagro also made their exits - Malisse to Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-4 and Almagro to American Robbie Ginepri 4-6 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-3.
Britain's Andy Murray defeated Alberto Martin 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 in 70 minutes. A double-fault on the first point of the match, a wayward backhand and a foot-fault were indicative of early nerves, but thereafter Murray was almost totally dominant, with Martin becoming ever more despondent as he lost 17 consecutive games.
The women's top seed, Maria Sharapova, needed medical attention after recording a narrow win, while former US Open champion Kim Clijsters marched through the first round with ease.
Sharapova was pushed all the way by Frenchwoman Camille Pin. After taking the first set 6-3 with apparent ease, the temperature began to take its toll on the Russian, winner of last year's US Open, allowing Pin to mount a comeback.
Taking the second set 6-4, the Frenchwoman looked poised to cause a major upset. But after clawing back from a break down at 6-7 in the final set, Sharapova turned the match around, breaking Pin twice to win 9-7.
Clijsters made short work of her match against Vasilisa Bardina under a closed roof. The Belgian spent just 44 minutes on centre court as she swept to a 6-0 6-0 win over the Russian.
Martina Hingis was also in dominant form as she wrapped up a straight-sets victory over Nathalie Dechy.
After taking the first set 6-0, the sixth seed quickly ensured her place in the second round, closing out the match 6-2 in the second set.
Rising Serbian star Ana Ivanovic, meanwhile, also booked a second-round berth at the expense of American Vania King, winning 6-2 6-0.
And Australian Samantha Stosur was equally efficient in her opening match of the tournament. Despite being made to wait a number of hours to start her clash with Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, the 24th seed showed no sign of frustration as she sealed victory 6-3 6-1.
Australian Open Results
MEN'S SINGLES
FIRST ROUND: (8) David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) 6-7 (5-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-0 2-1 ret, Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) bt Alan Mackin (Brit) 6-4 6-4 6-2, Olivier Rochus (Bel) bt Chris Guccione (Aus) 3-6 7-5 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 9-7, (28) Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Christophe Rochus (Bel) 6-2 4-1 ret, Florian Mayer (Ger) bt (23) Robin Soderling (Swe) 3-6 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-0, Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, Ilia Bozoljac (Ser) bt Marin Cilic (Cro) 6-2 6-4 6-1, (12) Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Albert Montanes (Spa) 7-5 6-1 7-6 (7-3), (13) Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Hyung Taik Lee (Kor) 6-1 6-2 6-2, Robert Smeets (Aus) bt Lukas Lacko (Svk) 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4, Max Mirnyi (Blr) bt Luis Horna (Per) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 2-6 6-4 6-4, (21) Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) bt Alexander Waske (Ger) 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-4, Arnaud Clement (Fra) bt (29) Xavier Malisse (Bel) 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-4, Fabrice Santoro (Fra) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-0, Gilles Muller (Lux) bt Gaston Gaudio (Arg) 6-0 4-6 6-2 6-3, (3) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Sergio Roitman (Arg) 6-2 7-5 6-2, (5) James Blake (USA) bt Carlos Moya (Spa) 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 6-4, Alex Kuznetsov (USA) bt Peter Luczak (Aus) 6-4 5-7 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4, Mischa Zverev (Ger) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-4, Robby Ginepri (USA) bt (32) Nicolas Almagro (Spa) 4-6 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-3, (19) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Michael Russell (USA) 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-3 6-3, Frank Dancevic (Can) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-3), Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Alessio Di Mauro (Ita) 6-3 6-3 6-1, (10) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Evgeny Korolev (Rus) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-2, (15) Andrew Murray (Brit) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 6-0 6-0 6-1, Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) 6-7 (5-7) 4-6 6-6 (1-3) ret, Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Potito Starace (Ita) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4, (17) Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Paul Goldstein (USA) 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, (31) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) bt Kevin Kim (USA) 6-1 2-6 6-4 6-2, Paul Capdeville (Chi) bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1 6-2, Phillip Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt Kristof Vliegen (Bel) 5-7 6-3 6-2 6-4, (2) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Robert Kendrick (USA) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-2.
WOMEN'S SINGLES
FIRST ROUND: (1) Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3 4-6 9-7, Anastassia Rodionova (Rus) bt Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-3 6-1, Renata Voracova (Cze) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 7-5 6-3, (30) Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Swi) 3-6 6-2 6-1, Agnieska Radwanska (Pol) bt Varvara Lepchenko (Uzb) 5-7 6-3 6-2, (13) Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt Vania King (USA) 6-2 6-0, (12) Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) bt Sybille Bammer (Aut) 6-4 7-5, Laura Granville (USA) bt Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr) 6-2 6-3, Jelena Kostanic (Cro) bt Sophie Ferguson (Aus) 7-5 6-3, (24) Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 6-3 6-1, Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt (28) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 7-5 7-6 (7-3), Alicia Molik (Aus) bt Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) 6-2 7-6 (7-4), (4) Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt Vassilissa Bardina (Rus) 6-0 6-0, Akiko Morigami (Jpn) bt Tzvetana Pironkova (Bul) 7-5 2-6 6-4, Virginie Razzano (Fra) bt Nicole Pratt (Aus) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 6-0, (29) Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Stephanie Cohen Aloro (Fra) 6-1 7-6 (8-6), Aiko Nakamura (Jpn) bt (32) Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) 6-4 6-0, Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Olga Savchuk (Ukr) 6-3 7-5, Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) bt Emma Laine (Fin) 4-6 6-2 9-7, (6) Martina Hingis (Swi) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-0 6-2.
