Querrey advances to second round of Pacific Life Open
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) – California teenager Sam Querrey defeated Belgium’s Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Pacific Life Open on Saturday. Querrey will play fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the next round. He’s hoping home-court advantage will help.
“Hopefully, all my friends will be out there and maybe get into his head,” he said.
The 19-year-old from Thousand Oaks grew up a three-hour drive west of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Third-seeded Andy Roddick played Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in an evening match.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who lost to James Blake in last year’s semifinal, had little difficulty with France’s Arnaud Clement until, at 5-4 in the second set, Clement broke with Nadal serving for the match. The 20-year-old Spaniard rebounded and won 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Czech Republic’s Jan Hernych beat England’s Tim Henman, a two-time Indian Wells finalist, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina needed 49 minutes to beat Czech Republic’s Jan Hajek 6-1, 6-1, and move on to a third-round match with Roger Federer, winner of 41 consecutive matches and the world’s No. 1 the past 161 weeks. Federer won here the past three years.
“I am still in the tournament, this is good,” said Canas. “The second thing, I’m playing with one of the most important players in the decade, in the history. I’m gonna try to enjoy this.” Asked about his 2002 victory over Federer in Toronto, Canas shrugged: “I don’t remember a lot,” he said. “It was many years ago.”
In women’s second-round play, fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova advanced in straight sets over Argentina’s Gisela Dulko, just as she did at the Australian Open. But three other seeds stumbled.
Unseeded Laura Granville of Chicago bounced No. 27 Severine Bremond of France, 6-3, 7-6 (3); Russia’s Elena Likhovtseva upset countrywoman Olga Poutchkova (26th) and Alicia Molik of Australia beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain (24) in three sets.