Cincinnati: Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, the Wimbledon runner-up, and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis advanced to a third-round matchup with triumphs at the ATP Cincinnati Masters tournament.
Berdych defeated France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 while Baghdatis outlasted Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) at the three million-dollar event, a tuneup for the US Open that begins August 30.
Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin ousted US wild card James Blake 6-3, 6-0 to book a second-round meeting Wednesday with Swiss third seed Roger Federer, who like all top-eight seeds received a first-round bye.
British fourth seed Andy Murray, fresh off taking the Toronto Masters title by defeating world number one Rafael Nadal and Federer in weekend matches, learned his second-round foe will be France's Jeremy Chardy.
Chardy eliminated Germany Florian Mayer 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
Two other Frenchman advanced in three sets, with Richard Gasquet taking out Russian Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and Julien Benneteau beating countryman Michael Llodra 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Two other Frenchmen were sent packing as well, with American Mardy Fish beating Gilles Simon 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 to secure a date with Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco and Colombian Alejandro Falla ousting Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4.
Later first-round matches featured Australian Lleyton Hewitt against Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic against Argentina's David Nalbandian.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 13:27