• 
• 

The Swiss-based Serb came back to overhaul Italy's Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 after her shaky start.

 Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova, seeded fourth, stretched her 2008 undefeated streak to 17 matches with a close-fought 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 defeat of Alona Bondarenko.

 "I felt I was up throughout the match and I had so many opportunities to finish in the second set," said the Russian. "But she played good tennis.

 "The last set was a dogfight, I felt close to being down and out. I  couldn't produce good points for a long period of time.

 "It should have been a two-set match. But when you don't take you chances you start to think and it becomes a battle."

   Other women's seeds moved into the final eight, with number two Svetlana Kuznetsova beating Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-3.

 Third seed Jelena Jankovic suffered with a cold but scratched out a  victory over Anabel Medina-Garrigues 6-3, 6-3.

 "My nose is a little bit runny and my eyes are watery, and this morning I had sore throat," said the Serb "I'm not feeling that great.

 "But I have a day off so I can at least recover as much as I can and be ready."

   Fifth-seeded defending champion Daniela Hantuchova took another step in protecting her title as she stopped India's Sania Mirza 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

 The Slovak, who won 2002 and 2007 trophies at the desert venue, needed just under two hours to go through against the Indian number one.

 Mirza said she aggravated a wrist injury during the match and was undergoing a scan. Agnieszka Radwanska, the number 10, beat American Ashley Harkleroad 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

 On the men's side, top seed Roger Federer revelled in the return of  his take-no-prisoners tennis, crushing a 19th consecutive French opponent as he manhandled Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes.

 "This is also what you want to do, you want to try to run over your opponent, not give him a chance any more," said Federer, who lost in the second round a year ago to Guillermo Canas after three straight titles.

 "I was really happy to break (five times) and (had) no problems whatsoever on my own serve. It was a perfect match really for me."

   Unfancied American Mardy Fish sprang a surprise on Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko in a 6-3, 6-2 upset while Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian held off Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-1), 0-6, 7-6 (8-6).

 There was a win for Scot Andy Murray over Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 while two-time champion Lleyton Hewitt continued his resurgence 7-5, 6-1 against Russian 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny.

 Federer snapped a two-game loss streak with an opening-round win at the weekend after losing an Australian Open semi-final to Novak Djokovic and in the Dubai first round against Andy Murray a fortnight ago.

 Mahut managed to earn just four points on a Federer serve which produced nine aces. The winner will next play Ivan Ljubicic after the Croatian put out Spains 15th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4.

 "I've accomplished a good feeling," said Federer, who suffered with the mononucleosis virus in Australia and into February before a medical all-clear. "I'm excited being back, happy to be playing well."

By Bill Scott, dpa