The newly engaged Andy Roddick, with his fiance Brooklyn Decker sitting beside musician Boyd Tinsley of The Dave Matthews Band in the stands, was tested by qualifier Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic before winning 7-6 6-4.
Roddick won the first set on his second set point in the tiebreak when world number 86 Minar's backhand hit the top of the net and landed wide.
SERVICE BREAK
Roddick was up a service break in the second set, but allowed Minar to level in the eighth game.
"Whenever you play someone who's won I think five matches in seven or eight days, including quallies, he's got to be hitting the ball well," Roddick said.
"He plays pretty high risk, and a lot of times there's not a lot you can do besides let him take his swings and hope eventually he might punch himself out."
Serena Williams looked in much better form against world number 61 Kanepi after she made 60 unforced errors against Flavia Penetta in the third round.
"I definitely had a lot less unforced errors, so I think that was pretty key," Williams said. "It was kind of up and down, though. She didn't give me any kind of rhythm."
One day after upsetting world number two Ana Ivanovic, experienced American Lindsay Davenport struggled with the wind in a 6-3 6-4 loss to 13th-seeded Dinara Safina.
"This is the first match that I just really felt like I couldn't figure out a way to kind of get back into it," said Davenport, who has won four titles since returning to the tour after giving birth to her first child last June.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily April 1, 2008)