French Open champion Rafael Nadal reached the third round of the US Open tennis championships on here Wednesday with a tough 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over tenacious US teenager Scoville Jenkins.
In a night match delayed for more than an hour by rain, the second-seeded Spaniard found himself on the defensive against Jenkins, a wild card playing in just his fifth ATP Tour level event and second Grand Slam.
"I am very happy to be in the third round. This is my best result here," Nadal said, but he showed little of his usual flair, combating Jenkins and the tricky winds with a largely defensive approach.
After breaking Jenkins in the fifth and seventh games of the third Nadal served for the match, but Jenkins stretched out the proceedings with a break for 5-3, forcing Nadal to play two more games to advance.
The difficult winds were a theme all day, providing more trouble to most of the seeded players in action than their opponents.
Maria Sharapova, the women's top seed, needed just 49 minutes to subdue 48th-ranked Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar 6-1, 6-0 and reach the third round.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters, seeded fourth but tipped by many as the favourite to lift her first Grand Slam trophy, struggled more in the swirling winds on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but emerged with a 7-5, 6-0 second-round victory over unseeded Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga.
Australian Open champion Serena Williams, seeded eighth, got past Colombian Catalin Castano 6-2, 6-2 to move within one match of meeting her sister, Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the fourth round as 10th-seeded Venus also advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Russian Maria Kirilenko.
Lleyton Hewitt, the third seed from Australia, was the first to taste the difficult conditions on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 first-round win over Spain's Albert Costa on Wednesday morning.
"I think I just handled the conditions so much better than he did today," said Hewitt, who is hoping a return to the scene of his first Grand Slam triumph can see an end to his Major title drought. "I don't think those kind of conditions suit his game at all."
Hewitt, who followed up his 2001 US Open title with a victory at Wimbledon the following year, hasn't added a Grand Slam crown to his resume since.
He came close here last year, losing in the final to Swiss world No 1 Roger Federer.
Against Costa, who is a shadow of the player he was when he claimed the 2002 French Open title, Hewitt fended off both break points he faced in the opening set and didn't give the Spaniard another look at his serve.
The lissome Sharapova joked that she felt she might blow right off the court and into the nearby Unisphere, the giant globe built erected for the 1964 World's Fair that is a landmark at the National Tennis Center.
"I said it's better I had a piece of cake yesterday - I would have been in that globe somewhere," she said. "I'm glad I gained a few pounds."
Sharapova could afford to laugh after polishing off Randriantefy, who handed her the victory with two of her five double faults on the final two points of the match. Sharapova advanced to a meeting with Germany's Julia Schruff, who beat American Lisa Raymond 6-3, 6-3.
Clijsters, on the other hand, had some trouble getting to grips with the blustery conditions.
The 22-year-old former world No 1, who is seeking her first career Grand Slam title, raced to a 4-0 lead only to lose the next five games. She steadied the ship, winning the remaining nine.
"I lost a little bit of my footwork," Clijsters said. "I wasn't as on my toes any more at 4-1. That made her come back into that first set.
"The second set I just knew I had to play aggressive and just keep going for the lines. Even though there's a lot of wind, you just have to play your game and not think about it too much."
Clijsters will next face Japanese 30th seed Ai Sugiyama, who defeated Czech Michaela Pastikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The wind was still up when Serena Williams took the court to open the night session.
But Williams, who is trying to bounce back from various injuries that have hindered her since her Australian Open triumph in January, managed to overcome the conditions and her own 25 unforced errors to book a revenge match with 25th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Finland's Emma Laine.
Venus Williams faces a potentially dangerous third-round match against Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, the 20th seed who beat Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-1, 6-0.
Williams, who caused a stir by wearing 40,000-dollar diamond earrings in her first-round match, sported another dazzling dangling pair along with a strand of diamonds around her neck.
Amid the bling, Williams showed a more sober side, pledging a 100 dollars for every ace she hits for the rest of the year to relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which has devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States.
COLLATED RESULTS (x- denotes seeded player)
MEN'S SINGLES (1st round): Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x3) bt Albert Costa (ESP) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1; Taylor Dent (USA x25) bt Lars Burgsmuller (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Michael Lammer (SUI) bt Kevin Kim (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Dominik Hrbaty (SVK x15) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2; Jose Acasuso (ARG) bt Luis Horna (PER) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13/11); Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bt Kenneth Carlsen (DEN) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-4; Karol Kucera (SVK) bt Mark Philippoussis (AUS) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5; David Ferrer (ESP x17) bt Agustin Calleri (ARG) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-1.
MEN'S SINGLES (2nd round): Nicolas Massu (CHI) bt Jiri Novak (CZE x23) walkover; Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Scoville Jenkins (USA) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
WOMEN'S SINGLES (2nd round): Nicole Vaidisova (CZE x26) bt Jie Zheng (CHN) 6-3, 6-0; Marion Bartoli (FRA) bt Shenay Perry (USA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0; Ivana Lisjak (CRO) bt Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) 7-5, 6-1; Kim Clijsters (BEL x4) bt Fabiola Zuluaga (COL) 7-5, 6-0; Maria Sharapova (RUS x1) bt Dally Randriantefy (MAD) 6-1, 6-0; Sania Mirza (IND) bt Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4; Maria Vento-Kabchi (VEN) bt Ana Ivanovic (SEM x18) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Venus Williams (USA x10) bt Mario Kirilenko (RUS) 6-1, 6-3; Ai Sugiyama (JPN x30) bt Michaela Pastikova (CZE) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x20) bt Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG) 6-1, 6-0; Shahar Peer (ISR) bt Vera Douchevina (RUS x33) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Nadia Petrova (RUS x9) bt Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 6-2, 6-0; Julia Schruff (GER) bt Lisa Raymond (USA) 6-2, 6-3; Laura Granville (USA) bt Nicole Pratt (AUS) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; Serena Williams (USA x8) bt Catalina Castano (COL) 6-2, 6-2; Francesca Schiavone (ITA x25) bt Emma Laine (FIN) 6-2, 6-2.
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