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Lu joins Roddick in San Jose quarter-finals

Dutchman Robin Haase celebrates after defeating Michael Berrer at the Rotterdam Open in the Netherlands on Thursday. PHOTO: EPA

Top seed Andy Roddick beat impressive Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the San Jose Open on Thursday.

Nishikori won his first career title last week in Delay Beach but was no match for Roddick, who relied on a huge serve and solid play at the net to see off the 18-year-old.

In other second round matches, Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun overcame American Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 6-4, John Isner fought off three match points to upset third seed Tommy Haas 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 and second seed James Blake moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jesse Levine.

After Roddick took the first set 6-2, he and Nishikori traded early breaks in the second. The Japanese then committed three unforced errors in a row to lose the set 6-4 and hand Roddick victory.

Next up for Roddick is Mardy Fish, who beat Germany's Denis Gremelmayr 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Lu will face fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

■ NADAL BITES THE DUST

AP,ROTTERDAM,NETHERLANDS

Dominika Cibulkova returns the ball to Venus Williams during their match at the Qatar Open in Doha on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Rafael Nadal became the fourth straight seeded player to lose on Thursday in the second round of the ABN Amro.

The second-ranked Spaniard, who had been the last remaining seeded player in the draw, lost to Andreas Seppi of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, No. 3 David Ferrer and No. 5 Tomas Berdych also lost on Thursday.

It is only the third time since 2000 that the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament has no seeded players. It last happened in 2006 in Nottingham, England, and before that in 2002 in Buenos Aires.

Nadal broke Seppi twice to take the opening set, but the Italian rebounded to win the second. Down two breaks in the third set, Nadal saved two match points in the eighth game and then broke on his fourth break point.

The three-time French Open champion held serve at love in the next game, but Seppi closed out the match by holding at love on his 24th birthday.

Davydenko, who lost to Michael Llodra of France 6-3, 7-5, received treatment for a shoulder injury in the second set.

Ferrer lost to Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-2, 7-5, and smashed two rackets in the process.

Zverev, who reached the quarter-finals for the third time, broke Ferrer twice in each set while only dropping serve once, in the second set.

Zverev will next play Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who served 17 aces to beat Berdych 6-4, 6-4.

■ RUSSIAN RUES STORM

AFP,DOHA

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia followed Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in being blown off course by a vicious sandstorm at the Qatar Open on Thursday.

The storm played a role in the departure of the two top seeds at the tournament.

Serbian top seed Ivanovic had to withdraw with a sprained ankle, having slipped on sand near the baseline on Wednesday.

Then Kuznetsova, the second-seed, also went out, despite surviving three match points and three rallies replayed because pieces of paper blew across the court on the fourth match point.

She was beaten 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) by Sybille Bammer but had to play through a spiteful gale.

Later on Thursday, Venus Williams, the sixth-seeded Wimbledon champion, joined the queue of big names at the exit door.

Williams was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by little-known Dominika Cibulkova, an 18-year-old from Bratislava.
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