Roddick Says Young too Young for Tour Play

Other seeded winners were (4) Elena Dementieva (d. Beltrame 7-6 in the third), (14) Tatiana Golovin (d. (Q) Diaz-Oliva in three), and (23) Conchita Martinez (d. (WC) Jackson).

"That was a very tough match to win today," Dementieva said. "I think I played the worse tennis in my life, and it just was a tough -- with my serve, I couldn't serve. I was missing every single forehand, which was one of my favorite shots to make. I just wanted to win this match. It was windy and sunny, but there was no excuse for me to play this way."

Unseeded Kim Clijsters also moved into the fourth round with a straight-set win over Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

The former No. 1 was happy to now have three match wins in a row, "And without pain," Clijsters said. "For me, that's my first thing, my first goal, like that I'm the most satisfied about, is that my wrist is holding up."

Scheduled for Monday are (1) Davenport vs. (27) Shaughnessy in an all-American, (3) Maria "Grunt-o-meter" Sharapova vs. (25) Dinara "Little Sis" Safina in an all-Russian, (29) Stosur vs. (7) Dechy, the Czech 16-year-old Vaidisova vs. (20) Pierce, (31) Raymond vs. (6) Petrova, (19) Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga vs. (13) Hantuchova, Craybas vs. 16-year-old (WC) Jessica "Captain" Kirkland in an all-American, and (17) Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier vs. the 16-year-old Ukrainian (WC) Kutuzova.

Federer Opens with Win, Safin Saves Match Points at ATP Indian Wells

World No. 1 Roger Federer suppressed the all-court attack of unseeded Mardy Fish Sunday at the ATP Masters Series stop in Indian Wells, defeating the American 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the third round.

Federer said the gusty conditions with blowing sand were not ideal for an opening match.

"(One) end was against the wind, against the sun, so that was tough," Federer said. "But then the real wind really picked up and it was tough from then on to really get some good rallies going. But I was always ahead. Made it easy. So I'm happy with that first match."

The Swiss avoided the upset bug, with seven seeds exiting Sunday in (11) Joachim Johansson (l. to Santoro 7-6 in the third), (16) Tommy Haas (l. to Mathieu), (19) Mario Ancic (l. to Berdych in three), (20) Vince Spadea (l. to Hernych 7-6 in the third), (25) Radek Stepanek (l. to Muller 6-0 in the third), (27) Sebastien Grosjean (l. to Ferrer 6-1 in the third), and (28) Dominik Hrbaty (l. to Llodra in three).

Three seeds came back from a set down to move into the third round in (22) Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Rainer Schuettler 6-1 in the third), (24) Feliciano Lopez (d. Karlovic), and (30) Taylor Dent (d. Saulnier 6-2 in the third).

Other seeded winners Sunday were (2) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Ginepri), (4) Marat Safin (d. Nieminen in three, saving two match points), (7) Carlos Moya (d. Spanish countryman Ferrero), (13) Ivan Ljubicic (d. (Q) Zib), and (14) Guillermo Canas (d. Carlsen).

"Today is not really the day to enjoy tennis, actually," said Safin, who had more unforced errors than winners in the three sets. "Even for the spectators, is a little bit freezing. It's not really like the day you really enjoy tennis...You need to survive. You need to just hang in there, wait for your opportunities and just win the match ugly, which also counts."

On tap for Monday are (32) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (6) Henman, (26) Novak vs. (3) Roddick, (21) Pavel vs. (9) Agassi, (5) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. (31) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (12) Robredo vs. Enqvist, (10) Nalbandian vs. Bjorkman, (WC) Blake vs. (17) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, and (29) Kiefer vs. (8) Gaudio.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer says things are looking good for a strong follow-up to his amazing 2004 season: "It looks very good. I've only lost one match, won three tournaments, including Kooyong (exhibition), since the semis of the Australian Open. So this start to the season is kind of more than I expected. Of course, I hoped to maybe win the Australian Open. But, you know, under the circumstances I think I did very well. You know, I think we'll really see after these two events, you know, Indian Wells and Miami, how I'm really shaping up, if I'm still No. 1 in the race (seasonal rankings) and all those sort of things. But so far I have the feeling that the chances are there, you know, to repeat the season like I did last year."...Saturday's crowd at Indian Wells of 19,055 broke the previous single-session record of 17,119 set last year...Andy Roddick thinks Donald Young, who has received a wildcard next week at the Masters Series-Miami, needs more time in the oven before hitting tour-level events: "I just think it's getting pushed a little fast. I'd love to see him take the time and really work on his game. I say that with the best possible intentions for him. I think he's insanely talented if you've seen him strike the ball and the way he naturally feels it. There's definitely something special there. But, is he ready to play week-in, week-out on the main tour? I don't think so. I hope I'm proved wrong. Maybe you start in qualies or in Challengers or maybe even the Futures first. I'd love nothing more than for him to come in and just start ripping people apart but I don't know if that's the case. I hope he knows that this should be going and enjoying the experience and if that's the way they're looking at it, go and try to build and see what you're up against so you know what you have to work on then that's kind of a great attitude to take into it. But I'm not really sure how they are going about it."