INDIAN WELLS, California – Amelie Mauresmo rallied from 3-1 down in the deciding set to beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.
Ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki continued her good form with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
To reach the fourth round here the Danish teen will have to go through Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who was leading 7-6 (2), 1-0 when Virginie Razzano of France retired with a back injury.
Shahar Peer of Israel ended the winning streak of 10th-seeded Marion Bartoli 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko withdrew from the tournament with a lingering left heel injury.
He has played just three matches this season.
Now his place in the draw will be taken by French lucky loser Olivier Patience.
On Thursday, two-time tournament champion Lleyton Hewitt continued his comeback from hip surgery by beating Jan Hernych 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the first round.
In the biggest tournament since the Australian Open, other winners Thursday included Jarkko Nieminen and Ivan Ljubicic while Feliciano Lopez and Jose Acasuso were among the first-round casualties.
Hewitt will next meet 17th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, with the Chilean having won their clash in the opening round of the Australian Open in January.
Finland’s Nieminen beat France’s Nicolas Devilder 7-6 (6), 6-1 to set up a second-round meeting with 13th seeded James Blake. Ljubicic downed Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 and his next opponent will be Croatian compatriot Mario Ancic.
Spain’s Lopez was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Michael Llodra, with the Frenchman progressing to an encounter with compatriot Richard Gasquet.
Argentina’s Acasuso, switching from campaigning on clay, was defeated 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 by Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili. Gabashvili will next take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Second-seeded Federer had a bye, and his second-round opponent will be France’s Marc Gicquel, who won through 7-5, 6-3 over Italy’s Simone Bolelli.
Fourth-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland will face Albert Montanes in round two, after the Spaniard thrashed France’s Florent Serra 6-3, 6-0.
In the women’s draw, the highlight of the opening day was Romania’s Edina Gallovits fighting back to edge Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, while Australian Sam Stosur cruised past Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.
Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic had a bye, and learned her second-round opponent will be Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Poland’s Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-3.
Third-seeded Elena Dementieva will face Petra Cetkovska in the second round, with the Czech progressing thanks to a 6-2, 7-5 win over France’s Stephanie Foretz.
In women’s first round play, Sania Mirza rallied from a first-set loss to beat Mariya Koryttseva, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, and 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Marta Domachowska, 6-1, 6-3, to earn a second-round match against No. 2 Jelana Jankovic.
Sharapova out
Maria Sharapova made her first competitive appearance for seven months on Thursday, losing a doubles match on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open. The former world’s No. 1 teamed with Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina and they were beaten 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 by Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek. – AP