INDIAN WELLS - Third seed Andy Roddick and last year's runner-up Tim Henman survived tough early matches at the Pacific Life Open Masters tennis tournament.
By contrast, world No 1 Lindsay Davenport and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova cruised to victories in the women's competition.
Roddick was pushed all the way before he edged Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in a second-round tussle.
Troubled by the left-hander's big forehand, Roddick needed to serve smartly late in the match and played an almost error-free tiebreak to close out the contest.
"That's the biggest forehand I've ever faced," the American told reporters. "He absolutely kills it."
Sixth seed Henman, wilting in the desert heat, tightened his game in the last two sets to squeeze past Frenchman Arnaud Clement 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in another second-round match.
Greg Rusedski was not so fortunate when he fell to 17th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6, 7-6.
Ninth seed Andre Agassi brushed aside Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 6-1 and there were also victories for fifth seed Guillermo Coria, number 10 David Nalbandian and number 12 Tommy Robredo.
Sharapova wasted little time ousting American Angela Haynes 6-1, 6-2 in the second round to record her ninth straight win, following title successes in Tokyo and Doha.
The Russian teenager now faces 25th-seeded fellow countrywoman Dinara Safina, who defeated American Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-2, 6-4.
World No 3 Sharapova re-stated her desire to grab the top ranking from Davenport, who put out Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-2.
"Why would you want to be number 20 and then when you get to number 20, you don't want to be number one?" said Sharapova.
Sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova also progressed, while 15-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova stunned 11th seed Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
- REUTERS
Tennis: Roddick and Henman put to the test
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