First Major scare

Federer sees off bugbear Gilles Simon in five sets to enter third round.

Defending champion Roger Federer admitted he was lucky to survive a major scare at the Australian Open on Wednesday,beating Gilles Simon 6-2,6-3,4-6,4-6,6-3 in the second round. For a while,it seemed as if Simon,who had beaten Federer in their only two previous meetings,would send the Swiss star packing out of a Grand Slam before the third round for the first time since the French Open in 2003 a total of 31 majors.

Simon is one of only three players on the ATP Tour to hold a winning record against the Swiss star,although Federer cut the margin. Simons series lead is now 2-1.

Federers win came on a day when one of the other stars of the tournament fourth-seeded Venus Williams nearly had to withdraw with a hip injury after the first set of her match,but recovered to advance to the third round.

Federer,pumping his fist increasingly in celebration with each point in the final few games,broke Simons service in the sixth game of the deciding set to go up 4-2,held his service to go up 5-2,then again held his serve two games later to clinch it on his fifth match point with an ace.

Im happy I survived a scare like today. Its not the first time, he said. It does happen,and you just try to stay calm even though Im not playing for much. Hes playing for the huge upset,and Im just trying to get through.

Williams also had some drama getting through to the third round,overcoming a painful injury to beat Sandra Zahlavoa of the Czech Republic 6-7 6,6-0,6-4.

Novak Djokovic,Andy Roddick,top-seeded woman Caroline Wozniacki,last years finalist Justine Henin and 2008 champion Maria Sharapova also advanced.

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Williams seemed to have the narrowest escape. Writhing in pain and clutching near her stomach as she walked back to her courtside chair,a WTA trainer was called and Williams took a medical timeout after the first-set tiebreaker. She appeared to be on the verge of retiring,and certainly was on the verge of tears. But a few minutes later,she returned with her upper right thigh taped and later said she injured her psoas muscle,which flexes the hip and spinal column. That maintained her record of never retiring in a major tournament.

No. 3 Djokovic beat Ivan Dodig 7-5,6-7 10,6-0,6-2. Djokovic will next play his Davis Cup team mate Viktor Troicki after the 29th-seeded player beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4,6-2,1-6,6-3.

Wozniacki advanced with a 6-1,6-0 win over American Vania King. To get to the semis,Wozniacki might have to beat seven-time Grand Slam winner Henin,who continued her comeback from injury with a 6-1,6-3 win over Elena Baltacha of Britain. The pair could meet in the quarterfinals. Henin will have to get through a tough match against two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova just to get past the third round. The 23-seeded Kuznetsova beat Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus 6-1,6-4.

No. 8 Victoria Azarenka beat Andrea Hlavackova 6-4,6-4. Serena Williams is injured and not defending her title in Australia.

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In other matches,Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic beat Australian wild card Jelena Dokic 7-6 3,6-1,and No. 9 Li Na defeated Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 6-3,6-2.

On the mens side,Tomas Berdych needed four match points to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6,6-2,6-3,6-4,and eighth-seeded Roddick fired his 17th ace to finish off a 7-6 7,6-2,6-3 second-round win over Igor Kunitsyn of Russia. Mardy Fish made a second-round exit,losing 1-6,6-3,6-3,6-3 to Tommy Robredo.