Federer has it tough against Hanescu

Roger Federer had to work harder than expected on Sunday night before beating Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Hanescu won a set from Federer for the first time in their five meetings. But the challenge the Romanian mounted against the world's top-ranked player by winning the tie-breaker was eroded quickly in the final set.

Federer, a two-time champion here, lost five points while taking the first three games of the final set and just 13 points in all in the 23-minute set.

The Swiss star, who was playing his first tour match since clinching the Australian Open, had 10 aces and hit 62 winners to offset 39 unforced errors. He will face No. 27 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the third round.

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick, Federer's potential opponent in the quarterfinals, beat qualifier Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 while fourth-seeded Andy Murray, losing finalist here last year, beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4 in another second round match.

The men's field lost No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who withdrew after tests revealed he had a fracture in his left wrist. He is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks.

The beneficiary of Davydenko's misfortune was No. 29 seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who had played just one game but was in the fourth round. Troicki had a first-round bye and his opponent in the second round, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, withdrew after the first game with a back problem.

Jie shocks Sharapova

The women's tournament that began with six former champions in the field saw the number whittled down to two following Zheng Jie's 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova, the 2006 winner. The 10th-seeded Sharapova lost the last four games after getting treatment on her right elbow while leading 3-2 and preparing to serve in the third set.

Bad day

In the doubles event, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi suffered shock first round defeats.

Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, the third seeds, went down fighting 4-6, 6-3, 6-10 to the Spanish wild card pair of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez.

Bhupathi and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi, seeded fourth, lost 4-6, 4-6 to Igor Andreev of Russia and Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan.

The results: Men: Second round: Marcos Baghdatis bt Arnaud Clement 7-6(7), 6-1; Tommy Robredo bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; Simon Greul bt Gael Monfils 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Thiemo de Bakker bt Janko Tipsarevic 3-2, retd.; Andy Murray bt Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4; Nicolas Almagro bt Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 7-6(5); Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3; Feliciano Lopez bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Robin Soderling bt Evgeny Korolev 6-2, 6-4; Jurgen Melzer bt David Nalbandian 6-4, 6-1; Dudi Sela bt Radek Stepanek 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Roger Federer bt Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1; Michael Russell bt Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; James Blake bt David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4; Albert Montanes bt Ricardo Mello 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Andy Roddick bt Yen-hsun Lu 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles: First round: Marc Lopez & Rafael Nadal bt Leander Paes & Lukas Dlouhy 6-4, 3-6, 10-6; Igor Andreev & Evgeny Korolev bt Mahesh Bhupathi & Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4.

Women: Third round: Agnieszka Radwanska bt Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-0; Marion Bartoli bt Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-0; Aravane Rezai bt Francesca Schiavone 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-4; Alicia Molik bt Elena Baltacha 6-0, 6-2; Elena Dementieva bt Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2; Zheng Jie bt Maria Sharapova 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Nadia Petrova bt Peng Shuai 6-1, 7-5; Caroline Wozniacki bt Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-3 . — AP