MIAMI (Florida), March 31: Former world No 1 Lindsay Davenport defeated Serbian second seed Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Sony Ericcson hardcourt tournament here on Sunday.

Current world No 1 Justine Henin of Belgium, third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and defending champion Serena Williams also advanced to the round of 16 at the $7.54 million event with straight-set triumphs.

On the men’s side, world No 2 Rafael Nadal moved a step closer to his first title of the season, defeating Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

While not as efficient as his second-round victory over German qualifier Benjamin Becker, in which he committed just four unforced errors, Nadal shrugged off a rain delay to complete his second straight match without facing a break point.

“Well, it was not the best day because I was playing unbelievable in the beginning, playing very well, hitting very well the ball, and playing almost perfect match,” he said.

“When I come back to the court the ball was a little bigger and slower, and it was a little bit more difficult for me,” he said.

Next up for Nadal is France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu, who ousted Carlos Moya of Spain 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.

Nadal is playing in his 12th tournament since his last title at Stuttgart in July.

Ninth-seeded American James Blake stayed on course for a possible quarter-final clash with Nadal with a 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 victory over Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

Davenport, 31, denied Ivanovic, 20, a chance at back-to-back triumphs after her victory a week ago in the Indian Wells final.

Instead Ivanovic followed Indian Wells men’s finalists Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish out of the tournament.

“I was playing really well. I felt really confident out there,” Davenport said. “Obviously she’s had a great year so far. But it’s very tough to play Indian Wells and Miami back to back, doing well in Indian Wells,” Davenport added.

“You can see on the men’s side with Fish and Djokovic. I was trying to take advantage of that.

“You never know what your opponent will bring, but I could tell she was maybe a little fatigued, and I tried to take advantage of that.”

Henin advanced to the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Italy’s Sara Errani.

Henin, who has won two titles in four tournaments this year, will next face Russian Elena Vesnina, who outlasted American Ashley Harkleroad 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after three hours and seven minutes.

This is Henin’s return after nearly one month off since losing a Dubai quarter-final to Italy’s Francesca Schianove. Henin has already taken titles this year in Sydney and Belgium and is 14-2 on the season.

Also advancing to the round of 16 was Kuznetsova, who rallied to defeat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 7-5, 6-0. Kuznetsova, the 2006 winner here and runner-up at Indian Wells, saved a match point down 5-3 in the second set.

Defending champion Serena Williams, the eighth seed, shrugged off a slow start to defeat Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-disrupted match.

Williams needed 2 hours, 12 minutes to polish off Pennetta, largely because of a stream of unforced errors.

“I just think I had a bad day today,” she said. “Every time I went to connect it was like I didn’t have my contact point.”

Serena’s elder sister Venus, the sixth seed, also reached the fourth round, beating New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 6-2, 6-1.

Sunday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles: Third round: 15-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) bt 17-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; 31-Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-2, 6-4; 10-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) bt 22-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 6-1, 6-3; 9-James Blake (US) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; 27-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); 16-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) bt 20-Carlos Moya (Spain) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5; Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) bt 32-Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Women’s singles: Third round: Sabine Lisicki (Germany) bt 5-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 7-5, 6-1; 10-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-0, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4; 8-Serena Williams (US) bt 27-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) bt 11-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-0, 6-1; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 7-5; 4-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-1; 32-Lindsay Davenport (US) bt 2-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-4, 6-2; Zheng Jie (China) bt 24-Amelie Mauresmo (France) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; 16-Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Michelle Larcher de Brito (Portugal) 6-0, 6-2; Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt 22-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; 13-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt 18-Sybille Bammer (Austria) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0; Elena Vesnina (Russia) bt Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; 6-Venus Williams(U.S.) bt Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-2, 6-1; 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt 25-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 1-6, 7-5, 6-0; 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) bt Sara Errani (Italy) 6-2, 6-1; 19-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) 6-1, 6-4.—Agencies