Davenport into third round of Bausch & Lomb Championships

BEIJING, April 11 -- Lindsay Davenport made short work of fellow American Jill Craybas with a 6-1, 6-4 victory to reach the third round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, on Wednesday.

The former world No. 1 was one of seven seeds to advance but four went out, including No. 3 Daniela Hantuchova, fifth-seed Patty Schnyder and Sybille Bammer.

Davenport needed just 55 minutes to dispose of Craybas, dominating with her serve on which she won 24 of 27 points.

"It was a fine match for me to play. I felt like in the second I went through a period there where I made some errors where I didn't really need to make them," Davenport said.

"Overall, I felt I actually hit the ball better than I did yesterday and did a few things better and now it's just about trying to get more consistent."

It took Davenport, seeded 16th after returning to the tour last year following a break to have a baby, just 19 minutes to capture the first set as she used her powerful forehand to good effect.

Craybas was more competitive in the second set, trailing 5-2 when she held service and broke Davenport in winning eight out of nine points.

But Davenport recovered from the lapse and closed out the match when Craybas sent a backhand into the net.

Slovakian Hantuchova lost 3-6, 1-6, 3-6 to Karolina Sprem of Croatia, Swiss Schnyder went down 2-6, 2-6, 2-6 to Russian Elena Vesnina and ninth seed Bammer was beaten by Alize Cornet of France 1-6, 3-6. Second seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia beat Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-3, 6-1 and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, seeded 11th, overcame Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the third round.

Sprem injured her wrist at the Italian Open in May, and didn't return to the tour until two weeks ago, when she lost in qualifying at Key Biscayne. The former top-20 player's ranking dropped to No. 296. This week she won two qualifying matches, beat Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama in her main draw opener, then stunned No. 10 Hantuchova for the third top-10 win of her career, and first since 2004.

Hantuchova, who lost to Sprem on clay four years ago, forced a third set, where she missed five break points. However, Sprem grabbed her only break chance in the eighth game and served out.

"I don't think I did too many things wrong," Hantuchova said. "She was just playing incredible, going for every shot and almost everything going inside the court. Today she was just too good."

Sprem is up against Davenport next.

Mauresmo, meanwhile, reached the third round for the seventh time in eight tournaments this year. She has yet to advance any farther.

Next up will be Radwanska for the first time.

Mauresmo, seeded 11th, won the Bausch & Lomb in 2001 and reached the final on her last appearance in 2004.

Russia's Dinara Safina defeated Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3. No. 12 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia swept Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4, while Slovak Dominika Cibulkova beat No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 and will play Chakvetadze next.