WASHINGTON (AP) _ Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia escaped a near upset against American Vince Spadea, advancing to the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic with a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory Wednesday night.
``I felt like it was sometimes tougher winning points on my serve than it was on his serve,'' said Hewitt, the 2004 Legg Mason champion.
Spadea also loss to Hewitt in the first round in Sydney in January.
``I had a lot of chances in that match, and it was a tough three-setter, too,'' Spadea said. ``I just haven't played a lot of matches. I don't think I'm match-fit or match-tough. God for bid that was in the sun today. But Hewitt looked pretty strong, I know that fitness is one of his best attributes.''
Earlier Wednesday, fifth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia beat Giles Muller of Luxembourg 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; seventh-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia advanced when Edgardo Massa of Argentina retired with the match tied 3-3 in the third set; eighth-seeded Andy Murray of Britain beat Paraguay's Ramon Delgado 6-4, 6-3; and 12th-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain downed Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-4.
Murray, who had 13 aces, took command in the sixth game of the first set, firing two aces to take a 4-2 advantage, then cruised to victory in 100-degree heat during the afternoon match.
``You have to try and finish the points a little quicker than normal,'' Murray said. ``It's so hot out there, that it's tough to catch a break with points. It's just so humid out there.''
In other second-round action, 16th-seeded Mardy Fish beat Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 to set up a match against Andrea Stoppini, the Italian who upset five-time champion Andre Agassi on Tuesday.
Jan-Michael Gambill, a lucky-loser replacement in the main draw after second-seeded Andy Roddick withdrew because of a back injury, beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 2-6, 6-3, 6-0; South Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee beat 10th-seeded Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 6-4; and Germany's Denis Gremelmayr beat 13th-seeded countryman Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-3.
