Federer advances as women's seeds tumble

Roger Federer shook off the rust of a six-week break on Saturday, his smooth progress into the third round at Indian Wells a marked contrast to turmoil in the women's draw.

Two of the top three women's seeds crashed out of the second round on Saturday - second-seeded Jelena Jankovic and third-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 42nd in the world, stunned Jankovic 6-4, 6-4.

It was another setback for the Serbian, who finished 2008 ranked number one in the world but has now fallen to number three.

"I'm excited," said Pavlyuchenkova, a former junior world number one. "As long as you win you're happy. But I tried not to be very overexcited, because I still have to continue in this tournament." Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska ousted Dementieva 7-6 (7/2), 2-6, 6-1. The fourth-ranked Russian blamed fatigue, saying early season success that included titles at Sydney and Auckland and a semi-final appearance in the Australian Open had taken a toll.

In all, 15 of the 32 seeded women failed to make it out of the second round.

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic, the fifth seed, avoided the trend, defeating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-4, 6-3 to join top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina in the third round.

Seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also advanced, beating Australian Samantha Stosur 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Federer's decision to take a break, rest his ailing back and get in some quality practice paid dividends.

The world number two, playing for the first time since losing an emotional five-set final to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, defeated France's Marc Gicquel 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. AFP