Hewitt advances in Miami

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt fought back from a set down to reach the second round of the Miami Masters today with victory over Israel’s Dudi Sela.

Hewitt, a wild card entrant at the event, took his time to get to grips with his opponent in blustery conditions but recovered to post a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny also progressed in three sets this evening, defeating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with 21st-seeded Tomas Berdych.

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis made an impressive start to his Miami campaign, disposing of Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.

The Cypriot has slipped to 105th in the rankings, 62 places below his up-and-coming opponent, but had won both previous meetings between the pair.

And he maintained his 100% record with a comprehensive victory, breaking twice in each set to progress to the second round with a 6-2 6-2 win.

Philipp Kohlschreiber slipped to a surprise defeat against Frank Dancevic of Canada.

Dancevic, ranked 81 places below his German opponent, needed an hour and 20 minutes to come through a 6-4 7-6 (7/2) winner.

Victor Hanescu was another high-profile casualty, losing to unheralded journeyman Michael Russell.

The American, at 241 ranked 203 places beneath his opponent, claimed just his second win of the year with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 win over Romanian Hanescu.

France’s Julien Benneteau recovered from a poor start to struggle past compatriot Florent Serra 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Arnaud Clement was another French casualty, losing 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to Robert Kendrick of the United States, while Spain’s Oscar Hernandez downed Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 6-4.

There were also wins for Jarkko Nieminen, Diego Junqueira, Mikhail Kukushkin, Jan Hernych, Kevin Kim, Fabrice Santoro, Taylor Dent and Agustin Calleri.

In the women’s event, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia recovered from a set down to post a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Melanie Oudi, while wild card Jelena Dokic defeated Romanian Edina Gallovits 6-3 7-6.

Maria Kirilenko overcame a second-set blip to see off Kateryna Bondarenko.

The Russian claimed the first set but went missing in the second, losing it 6-0.

However, she composed herself to secure her place in the second round with a 6-4 0-6 6-4 win.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 17-year-old who reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells last week, also needed three sets to get past Aravane Rezai of France.

The Russian, ranked 27th in the world, slipped up in the first set before rallying to a 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory in nearly two hours.

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands slipped to a 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 at the hands of Russian wildcard Anastasia Pivovarova.

Former world number seven Nicole Vaidisova was in good form as she saw off Patricia Mayr 6-4 6-2, while Samantha Stosur progressed courtesy of Sofia Arvidsson’s retirement. The Swede was 6-1 2-0 down at the time.

Other winners today included Galina Voskoboeva, Anastasiya Yakimova, Lucie Safarova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Francesca Schiavone, Mariya Koryttseva, Tamira Paszek, Nuria Llagostera Vives and Mathilde Johansson.