Below-par Davenport goes through

Second seed Lindsay Davenport progressed to the fourth round of the US Open with a 6-3 6-2 rout of Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues despite a shaky performance.

After having her opening serve broken and finding herself locked in a 3-3 tie in the first set, the American won seven consecutive games to take control.

However, the Wimbledon finalist was forced to overcome 24 errors against the frustrated Medina Garrigues, who seemed to lose focus after arguing a line call midway through the first set.

Davenport will now try to reach her ninth straight US Open quarter-final with a fourth-round match against 15th seed Nathalie Dechy, who advanced with a win over fellow Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin.

Seeds Justine Henin-Hardenne and Elena Dementieva each had difficulties but nevertheless advanced to the fourth round.

Henin-Hardenne, seeded seven and 2003 US Open champion, cruised through the first set but was pushed to a tie-breaker in the second before defeating Yoon Jeong Cho of Korea, 6-0 7-6 (7/4).

The 23-year-old Belgian, who missed much of last year and early this year with a viral illness and various injuries, had played just one event since a first-round loss at Wimbledon due to a hamstring injury.

And after her win she admitted her recent inactivity may have been the reason she struggled to get past her opponent.

“I am a player who needs a lot of matches, especially before a grand slam,” she said.

“But right now I won a couple of matches and that gives confidence. And when you’re injured, you have to rest. So that’s bad enough.

“But before a grand slam, for sure, you probably need more than one tournament. But I played five matches in Toronto and that’s been pretty good.”

Henin-Hardenne will now face 12th seed Mary Pierce of France, who had a 6-3 3-0 lead in her match against Jelena Jankovic when the 17th seed retired due to an ankle injury.

Dementieva narrowly escaped against fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze, the 29th seed, 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7/5).

Dementieva, who needed two hours, eight minutes to advance, now faces 11th seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who routed Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe 6-1 6-3.