Andy Roddick survived a second-set lapse to beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in their round-robin match at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Mixing up his powerful serve and forehand with forays to the net, Roddick fended off four break points in the first game, broke the fourth seed once to take the first set and again to go up 4-3 in the second.

Seeded one place below Davydenko, Roddick won only two points in the next three games as the Russian broke him twice and levelled the match.

Roddick smashed his racket after missing a forehand wide on set point, but then pulled himself together and ran off five straight games to take control of the third set at 5-1.

After Davydenko held, Roddick finished off the match by holding serve at love, although he had to wait to celebrate as his opponent challenged whether the final shot on the line was good - it was. Roddick won 16 of 18 points on his serve in the set.

Rafael Nadal, the second seed behind Roger Federer, overcame a stuttering start to defeat Richard Gasquet in three sets yesterday. The Spaniard found his rhythm in the second and third sets to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. David Ferrer, Nadal’s comaptriot, beat Novak Djokovic, seeded third, 6-4, 6-4 in the later match.

“In the beginning I was a little bit nervous,” Nadal said. “Matches here are always very difficult because you play against the best.

“So I started the match with a few doubts but later I played more aggressively. It was important to get the break in the beginning of the second set, and I finished much better than I started.”
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