The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
61°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Nadal advances in Australian Open

Spain's Rafael Nadal, the No. 2 player in the world, has never made it past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
John Pye Associated Press
Spain's Rafael Nadal, the No. 2 player in the world, has never made it past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

MELBOURNE, Australia – Rafael Nadal honed some of the weapons he aims to use to end Roger Federer’s domination at the Australian Open.

Serena Williams showed touches of the form that helped her to the last Australian Open title and a 25-1 record dating back to 2003 at Melbourne Park.

Each won their second-round matches in straight sets today without much trouble.

Top-ranked Justine Henin had a little more difficulty reaching the third round in her first Australian Open since defaulting the 2006 final, dropping serve three times en route to her 30th consecutive win.

Nadal, the perennial men’s No. 2, had 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Florent Serra.

He made the third round in his debut in 2004, the fourth round in ‘05 and, after missing a year, made the quarterfinals last year.

Nadal is the only player to beat top-ranked Federer in the last 10 Grand Slams – in the finals at Roland Garros the last two years.

Nadal’s retrieving skills often left Serra muttering to himself and he had no answer in the last game when the 21-year-old Spaniard set up triple-match point with a backhand winner and closed with an ace, his ninth.

With a strong U.S. contingent waving American flags in Vodafone Arena, Williams was clearly the aggressor in a 6-3, 6-1 win over Meng Yuan of China.

Williams finished with 35 winners to 18 unforced errors but had trouble with her first serve in the wind, getting only 51 percent into play.

Henin, who skipped Melbourne last year because she was going through a divorce and had to default in the 2006 final because of a stomach illness, needed four match points to clinch a 6-1, 7-5 win over Russia’s Olga Poutchkova.

Amelie Mauresmo, who won when Henin pulled out of the 2006 final, needed 10 match points to beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia, and Nicole Vaidisova ended the run of Australia’s Alicia Molik 6-2, 6-3.

Another Australian went through, though, with Casey Dellacqu upsetting 2004 semifinalist Patty Schnyder 4-6, 7-5, 8-6.

Unseeded Mardy Fish ousted No. 11 Tommy Robredo 6-1, 5-2, 6-3, but two other Americans were eliminated when Jesse Levine lost to No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen and Sam Warburg went down to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who followed his upset over No. 9 Andy Murray by hitting 54 winners and 14 aces in a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win today.

No. 5 Maria Sharapova, last year’s losing finalist, had the toughest second-round match of the highly ranked players, facing three-time major winner Lindsay Davenport tonight. Davenport is 19-1 with three titles since returning to the tour following the birth last June of her son, Jagger.

Federer handily won on Tuesday, barely giving Argentina’s Diego Hartfield a free point in a 6-0. 6-3, 6-0 win to start his bid for a third straight Australian Open title.