Andy Roddick advanced to the last 16 of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday by defeating Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-4, 7-6 (3), while Toronto's Daniel Nestor won his opening doubles match with partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.
The sixth-ranked American had only nine aces, but beat Grosjean for the eighth straight time through a heavy serve that forced his opponent into making 24 unforced errors.
``Unfortunately for Sebastien, I've played well against him,'' Roddick said. ``But you have good days and you have bad days and I don't know if today was that great.''
It was Roddick's first win in Madrid in three years and he will next play either Agustin Calleri of Argentina or 11th-ranked Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Nestor and Knowles, the No. 3 seeds, opened with a 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 victory over Feliciano Lopez and Rafael Nadal of Spain. Nadal, the No. 2 seed in the singles, will next play Wednesday against American Mardy Fish.
British wild card Tim Henman broke David Ferrer of Spain seven times to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Tommy Robredo of Spain twice came from behind to beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) and advanced to face either 12th-ranked Mario Ancic of Croatia or American Robby Ginepri.
Chela served for each set at 6-5, but the eighth-ranked Spaniard, who won the Hamburg Masters in May, broke him both times to force the tiebreakers.
Later Tuesday, Roger Federer of Switzerland was scheduled to play Nicolas Massu of Chile in his first match at the Madrid Masters since losing to eventual champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the semifinals in 2003.
Also, 2004 champion Marat Safin of Russia was to play Argentina's Jose Acasuso, and fourth-ranked David Nalbandian of Argentina _ a semifinalist last year and finalist in 2004 _ was to meet French qualifier Julien Benneteau.
In the first round, Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia advanced after Gael Monfils retired with an ankle injury while leading 6-3, 2-2.
The Frenchman rolled his right ankle in the second set after celebrating a point. Monfils, who had been sidelined since the U.S. Open with a stress fracture in his left foot, had his ankle wrapped before being taken away in a wheelchair.
Trainer Bill Norris said Monfils' sprained ankle will keep him out of action for four weeks and end his season.
Kristof Vliegen of Belgium and Robin Soderling of Sweden were also victorious. Vliegen topped Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-3, 6-1 and will next face American James Blake, while Soderling beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 and will meet Ferrero in the second round.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
