Andy Roddick was more than satisfied after opening his clay-court season with a win over 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio.
It didn't matter to the American that Gaudio's ranking has fallen to No. 71 and that the Argentine is considering retirement.
"I don't think he's long on confidence right now. But at the same time, this is the most challenging surface for me," Roddick said after his 6-1, 7-6 (8) win in the second round of the Rome Masters.
PHOTO: AP
"If there was a time to beat him and be a little bit proud of it, it's on this surface," he said.
Also on Wednesday, Rafael Nadal overcame stiff resistance from Italian wild card Daniele Bracciali on his way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Nadal extended his clay-court winning streak to 73 matches and is attempting to become the first player to win this tournament three consecutive times.
Fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Davis Cup teammate Marat Safin 7-6 (4), 7-5, and fifth-seeded Novak Djokovic, who won his third title of the season at Estoril on Sunday, rallied to beat Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Also, Nicolas Massu of Chile upset ninth-seeded James Blake 7-6 (3), 7-5, Filippo Volandri of Italy eliminated 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 and Gilles Simon of France beat Guillermo Canas 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Justine Henin defeated German wild card Tatjana Malek 6-1, 6-3 on a rain-soaked court on Wednesday to reach the third round of the German Open.
The top-ranked Belgian beat her 19-year-old opponent to stay on track for a fourth title at this clay-court warmup for the French Open. Henin won the French in 2003, 2005 and last year.
"It gives me a lot of confidence when I win here, especially since I like to take a rest before the French Open," said Henin, who won't play again after the tournament until Roland Garros.
The event drew seven of the world's top 10 players and several went through to the third round on Wednesday, led by second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 4 Martina Hingis and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic.
Kuznetsova beat Sybille Bammer, 6-1, 7-5, while Mauresmo played her first match since an appendectomy operation in March, eliminating China's Yan Zi 6-3, 6-3.
The seventh-seeded Petrova, who beat Henin in last year's final, topped Severine Bremond 6-4, 6-2 in a day when several players played twice because of rain delays on previous days.
Hingis, the 1999 champion, edged Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 7-6 (7) on her return to the tour after six weeks out with tendinitis. Ivanovic beat Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-2.
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