Agence France Presse

Indian Wells, March 15:

Two-time runner-up Tim Henman held off a stiff challenge and third seed Andy Roddick rolled to an easy win as both advanced at the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters Series. Englishman Henman beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4 and American Roddick cruised past Czech Jiri Novak 6-1, 6-2 to reach the fourth round at the $4.8 million event. Henman hammered more winners, 21-14, and won 71 of 129 total points in the 83-minute match in the California desert. Sixth seed Henman advances to the fourth round of the hardcourt tournament, where he will face Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who rallied from a set down to beat Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist 4-6, 6-2, 7-6.

Henman won 67 percent of his first-serve points and was successful on three of six break chances. Wind gusts at the main stadium court reached up to 50 kph during the day session.

Roddick will next play Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez who dispatched American James Blake 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. Fifth seed Guillermo Coria defeated Asia’s No 1 Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 6-2 in the evening match on the main stadium. Coria will meet eight-time major winner Andre Agassi who beat Romanian Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4. Coria was the last seeded male to advance on Monday as nine of the top ten men are still alive in the draw. Third seed Roddick, No 6 Henman, No 9 Agassi and tenth seed David Nalbandian also reached the fourth round. In the women’s draw, Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova defeated Russian compatriot Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 in a third round match. Sharapova, who has won 10 consecutive matches, will face Colombia’s Fabiola Zuluaga who stopped 2002 Indian Wells champ Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-2.

Top seed Lindsay Davenport beat fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Davenport weathered a second-set blip and called the daytime conditions on the court almost “unplayable”. Former Australian Open champ Mary Pierce beat 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-4 and world No 473 Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine upset American Amy Frazer 6-3, 6-3.