Nadal, Safin Advance; Roddick Rolls; Bellamy to Leave TTC?

Nadal, Safin, Roddick Advance on Day Two at Rome

World No.2 Rafael Nadal upped his current clay win streak to 48 following a tough three set win over friend and countryman Carlos Moya 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 Tuesday in Rome.

Moya, who defeated Nadal in Miami in three sets, played blistering tennis in the second set but couldn’t keep the momentum in the crucial third when the lefty teen regained his mark.

"The first set was easier than I expected. But it got tougher. He knows me so well," Nadal said. "When I lost the second set I saw the phantom of Miami."

The win moves Nadal and his capri’s into the third round against local favorite Flippo Volandri who squeezed by Brit-Scot Andy Murray.

Playing in his first Euro event of the year, Andy Roddick looked like a champ in crushing the still-winless-in-2006 Victor Hanescu 6-1, 6-0. The one game loss was the most lopsided in Roddick’s 427 career matches and put him into the second round where on Wednesday he’ll face Marcos Baghdatis in a tasty rematch of their Australian Open encounter.

"It's a different match-up than in Australia," Roddick said of playing the Cypriot. "He kind of came out of nowhere there and played really well. So I'm excited to get a chance to try to turn it this time. He's a tough player, a nice kid, and it should be a good one."

Also advancing was Marat Safin, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 victor over household favorite Teimuraz Gabashvili. Safin will now face Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo who continued Guillermo “El Loco” Coria’s downward spiral with a 6-3, 6-2 over the 2005 Rome finalist.

David Nalbandian also advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Fernando Vicente. Nalbandian next faces Paul-Henri Mathieu who downed former World No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3 in 68 minutes.

In the closest thing to an upset on the day Xavier “X-Man” Malisse, playing just his second clay court event of the season, sent home former Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Hingis Wins; Mauresmo, Henin in Action Wednesday in Berlin

Martina Hingis’s winning ways continued Tuesday as the Swiss Miss ousted No.11 seed Flavia Pennetta, 7-5, 6-3 in her Berlin Opener.

Since making a comeback from retirement, the 23rd-ranked Hingis pressured Pennetta breaking the Italian six times.

Hingis avenged a loss to Pennetta suffered earlier this year in the semifinals of Gold Coast where the Swiss served for the match at in Australia but couldn't close.

"I'm very happy that I got through today," Hingis said. "Pennetta is a very tough first round opponent. This match was very similar to the one at Gold Coast but it was much quicker this time. I'm very happy to have made such a big improvement over the last few months."

Hingis will next take on German Julia Schruff, who advanced to the second round Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Finn Emma Laine.

Also notching a notable upset Tuesday was Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio. The 21-year-old from Granollers dispatched No.9-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, 6-4 6-3, to set up a second round encounter with Austrian Sybille Bammer.

Last week's Estoril finalist Li Na, who had to retire in Portugal at the beginning of the third set due to heat illness, experienced a reversal of fortune when No.12-seeded Ana Ivanovic retired due to a left hamstring strain. Li, the Chinese No.2, surged up nine spots in the rankings to No.61 after her third career Tour singles final appearance in Estoril, which was also her first of 2006.
 
Also on Monday's Qatar Telecom German Open menu was 16th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, who cruised past Russian qualifier Tatiana Panova, 6-1 6-2. The Spaniard has won six of her last nine clay court matches and had two consecutive Round of 1-6 appearances in Amelia Island and Charleston. The 23-year-old from Valencia next faces Anna Chakvetadze, who won her debut match on Monday against Czech Iveta Benesova.

Other first round winners were Estonian Maret Ani, Czech Klara Koukalova, Colombian Catalina Castaño, Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik and Ukrainian qualifier Julia Vakulenko.

Second round action will begin Wednesday. World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo, one of eight top seeds to receive a first round bye, will take the court against Russian Vera Dushevina. No.2-seeded Nadia Petrova will meet Vera Zvonareva, No.3 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne will meet Italian Mara Santangelo and No.4 Patty Schnyder is up against Estonian Ani.

Lucie Gets no Love at Home in Prague

Czech No.2 seed Lucie Safarova was focused on putting forth a strong performance in front of her home crowd at the Prague Open 2006, but the teenager folded under the pressure falling to 17-year-old Slovakian wild card Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, in the first round Tuesday.

Safarova, who was up 5-2 in the first set, said she was bothered by a left shoulder injury.

"I was still feeling pain today," she said. "I was very nervous because I was playing at home and really wanted to win."

Rybarikova, No.285 in the world, will next face Venezuelan Milagros Sequera, who edged Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi, 4-6 6-4 7-5.

No.4 seed Emilie Loit of France defeated Polish qualifier Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-4, to set up a second round clash with Croatia's Karolina Sprem “Bank”. With both top seeds eliminated, the left-handed Frenchwoman has a big chance of winning her third career Tour singles title. Loit won in Casablanca and Estoril two years ago.

In doubles, Martina Navratilova played a match in her former home country for the first time in 20 years. She and Czech partner Barbora Strycova, the No.1 seeds, beat Olga Blahotova and Ahsha Rolle, 6-2, 6-3.

"I had to keep myself from crying," Navratilova said. "But there can't be too much nostalgia, or we would lose quickly."

Sure ya did Martina.

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