Sportmaster International

Miami - Rafael Nadal survived the distraction of a rain delay to post a 6-2, 6-4 win over German Nicolas Kiefer for a place in the third round of the Miami Masters on Sunday.

   ’I'm very happy about my victory,’ said the Spaniard who is searching for his first title this season. ‘When I come back to the court the ball was a little bigger and slower, and it was a little bit more difficult for me.    ’I feel I played a very complete match.’    The second seed will next face 16th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, who beat Spanish

veteran Carlos Moya 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.    Number nine James Blake ousted crafty French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.    ’I don’t really relax until match point is over with, so I was definitely worried,’ said Blake. ‘He could have picked up his level at any point and played great, put the pressure on me.’    Number 10 Tomas Berdych stopped Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3.    Women’s number 33 Lindsay Davenport rolled back the years nine months after giving birth as she sent second seed Ana Ivanovic out in the third round 6-4, 6-2.    ’She played like a top-10 player easily today,’ said a stunned Ivanovic, one week removed from winning the prestigious title at Indian Wells, California.    Davenport, 31, seemed surprised to have gone through: ‘Sometimes you just never know what to expect when you go out for a certain match on a certain day.’    Ivanovic, who followed compatriot and men’s Indian Wells winner Novak Djokovic out the door early in Florida, said that Davenport ‘won Grand Slams before, and she was the number one player, so she has the game. Today she played very well. I’m glad to see her back, and I hope she can do well.’    The gracious response masked the obvious disappointment of Ivanovic, who had hoped to back up her first major title. ‘She always had the first hit on her ball. It was kind of disappointing for me,’ Ivanovic said. ‘I had chances in the beginning and didn’t use them. My intensity wasn’t up there today. When you play against such a champion, you need to be on the ball for each point.’    Intensity was not a worry for number one Justine Henin, who overcame sweltering mid-day conditions to advance over Italy’s Sara Errani 6-2, 6-1.    The winner said that a high overhead sun was not as much of a worry as the muggy conditions, which made her breathing difficult.    ’It was really good enough to win pretty easily, so I’m happy,’ Henin said. ‘Maybe a few weeks ago it would have been another story in this kind of match.’    Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic got back onto court less than 24 hours after managing a marathon win the night before, wasting no time in crushing Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-1.    Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 champion, had to mount a huge fightback to escape Viktoria Azarenka, waking up in time for victory after trailing a set and 5-2.    The Russian found her form just in time for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 third- round win.