Davenport Spanks 15-Year-Old, Roddick, Agassi Advance at Indian Wells

The win was Roddick's first since his 1-1 win-loss D-Cup performance against Croatia.

"When you come off something really disappointing (Davis Cup), you want to come back and get involved in something really positive right away," said the No. 3-seeded Roddick, who failed to stop the hot-handed Ivan Ljubicic in the U.S.'s first-round Davis Cup loss. "Maybe it was good to have a tough match and really have to dig to get through it...I think that's the biggest thing that separates the people in the Top 10 and some of the guys 40 and 50 in the world, is that we kind of try to find a way to win even if we don't have our best stuff."

Andre Agassi, another Ljubicic victim over the Davis Cup weekend, put his disappointment behind him by ending hot-handed Aussie Wayne Arthurs' tour streak of 109 consecutive service games held with a 6-4, 6-1 pounding. It was Agassi who also ended Arthurs all-time record run of 111 consecutive service games held in 1999.

"I had to walk that fine line of being aggressive but not taking too many chances," said the No. 9 seed Agassi. "It was a bit breezy and maybe he couldn't serve as close to the lines as he wanted."

Other seeded winners were (5) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria (d. K.Kim in two breakers), (6) Tim Henman (d. (Q) Clement from a set down), (8) Gaston Gaudio (d. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 7-6 in the third), (10) David Nalbandian (d. Argentine countryman Juan "The Principality" Monaco 2-and-1), (12) Tommy Robredo (d. (WC) Gael "Force" Monfils, dropping only four games), (17) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski in two breakers), (21) Andrei Pavel (d. (Q) Carraz from a set down), (26) Jiri Novak (d. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus), (29) Nicolas Kiefer (d. Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian, double-bageling the Armenian), (31) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Calleri), and (32) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. (Q) Goldstein in three).

"It came down to a point here or there and that's what it's been like for me against the top players this year," said Rusedski after dropping the two tiebreaks against Gonzo. "Now I just need to start winning those one or two points and I feel like I'm getting closer to doing that."

The Swedes led the upsets in veterans Thomas Enqvist (d. (18) Youzhny), and Jonas Bjorkman (d. (23) T.Johansson 7-6 in the third), with American James Blake defeating (15) Nikolay Davydenko in straights.

Un-seeds into the second round Saturday were Americans Mardy Fish (d. countryman Gambill) and Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri (d. Acasuso), Frenchman Cyril "The Saucier" Saulnier (d. Hanescu), D-Cup hero Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Calatrava 6-1 in the third) and Michael Llodra (d. (LL) Sanguinetti), Luxembourg's Gilles Muller (d. (Q) Lisnard), Fin Jarkko Nieminen (d. Luis "Me So" Horna), and Czech Jan Hernych (d. (Q) Delgado).

On tap for Sunday in IW are five current or former No. 1s in Saulnier vs. (30) Dent, (1) Federer vs. Fish, (4) Safin vs. Nieminen, Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri vs. (2) Hewitt, (16) Haas vs. Mathieu, Hernych vs. (20) Spadea, (7) Moya vs. Ferrero in a battle of Spanish former No. 1s, (Q) Zib vs. (13) Ljubicic, Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro vs. (11) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, (19) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Berdych, Ferrer vs. (27) Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean, (28) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Llodra, Muller vs. (25) Stepanek, (24) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, (22) Juan Ignacio "The Sprinkler" Chela vs. Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, and Carlsen vs. (14) Canas.

Davenport Crushes Precocious Karatantcheva at WTA Indian Wells

The hype was world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport against precocious and talented Bulgarian teen Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva, who last year at Indian Wells said she was going to kick Maria Sharapova's butt before losing to the Russian in three set.

This year Karatantcheva took a low-key approach, saying she had matured since last year's event and refused to lay down any predictions in facing the world No. 1.

Perhaps she should have retained some of that fire.

Instead of the confidence-filled Bulgarian facing the No. 1, replacing her was an intimidated 15-year-old with stage fright, and it turned into just another routine win for the top-seeded American who rolled 6-3, 6-2.

"I was just a little bit nervous," Karatantcheva said. "In fact, I got more nervous once I led at 2-1 (in the first set). It was like, 'Holy crap, I'm leading. What the hell is wrong here?' It was a shock for me. I really never had this experience before. So, I really didn't know what to do with the lead."

For Davenport it wasn't the first time this year on babysitting duty.

"Gosh, that's twice this year I've had to play 15-year-olds that are pretty good actually," Davenport said. "Gosh, 15 is awfully young."

Youngsters actually delivering the goods Saturday at Indian Wells were a threesome of 16-year-olds in American wildcard Jessica "Captain" Kirkland (d. (22) Bartoli 0-and-1), Ukraine wildcard Viktoriya Kutuzova (d. (15) Pennetta in three), and Czech Nicole Vaidisova (d. (11) Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem 6-1 in the third).

30-year-old American Jill Craybas also logged an upset with a straight-set win over (30) Elena Likhovtseva.

Other seeded winners on the day were (3) Maria "Grunt-o-meter" Sharapova (d. (WC) Haynes), (6) Nadia Petrova (d. (Q) Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti 0-and-1), (7) Nathalie Dechy (d. French countrywoman Loit in three), (13) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer in three), (17) Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. (WC) Daja "Caught" Bedanova in three), (19) Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. Sanchez Lorenzo), (20) Mary Pierce (d. Cervanova from a set down), (25) Dinara Safina (d. Lee-Waters), (27) Meghann Shaughnessy (d. American contrywoman (Q) Uberoi), (29) Sam Stosur (d. Cho), and (31) Lisa Raymond (d. (LL) A.Bondarenko in three).

"The first match is never easy. You don't know what to expect," Sharapova said after cruising by the American qualifier Haynes. "I don't play against too many girls ranked ahead of me because I am No. 3 in the world, so they have nothing to lose."

Sunday's schedule in IW is (30) Linetskaya vs. (2) Mauresmo, Clijsters vs. Chakvetadze, Beltrame vs. (4) Dementieva, (5) Kuznetsova vs. (32) Vento-Kabchi, (23) Martinez vs. (WC) Jamea "Action" Jackson, (14) Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin vs. (Q) Diaz-Oliva, (Q) Kirilenko vs. (28) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, and (24) Benesova vs. (Q) Fujiwara (JPN).

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