American John Isner survived the quick veteran Michael  Russell 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(5), saying he was lucky to get the victory because he was outplayed.

Along with Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish, Isner is one of only three American men left in the Miami draw after James Blake, Sam Querrey and Taylor Dent all fell on Friday.

“[Russell] was wearing me down really the whole match,” said Isner, who will face Juan Carlos Ferrero. “I was sweating like an animal out there. I had to towel off every point.  It was absurd how much I was sweating.”—M.C.

Rafael Nadal said that he will have his troublesome wisdom tooth pulled out after Miami, but says that’s it’s no longer bothering him too much.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s much better,” said Nadal, who will face his friend David Nalbandian in the third round of Miami.—M.C.

After a decisive 6-3, 6-2 victory over Elena Dementieva in Miami, Justine Henin said that just three months into her comeback, her body is still sore and getting used to the rigors of competition.

However, she had a much easier time with Russian than she did in Australia, where Dementieva nearly toppled her.

“I was a bit scared of this match, of course, because I knew it was tough draw to play Dementieva in the second round,” said Henin, who will face Dominika Cibulkova in the third round. “But I like this kind of challenge, and I really took it as something I would push myself to be better on the court than I’ve been the last few weeks.—M.C.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)—The stadium erupted when Mardy Fish walloped the final shot of the match for a winner, and he let loose a jubilant roar of his own.

The American earned one of the biggest victories in his 10-year career Saturday at the Sony Ericsson Open, where he upset 2009 champion Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4.

Fish repeatedly came through with big serves at key moments, while Murray went into a funk after he frittered away an early lead. The Scotsman was the Australian Open runner-up in January and was seeded No. 3 at Key Biscayne but failed to survive his opening match.
 
“He probably didn’t play the way he did in Australia,” Fish said. “But I don’t care.”

Murray confirmed he has been struggling the past two months and described the problem as mostly mental.

“It’s purely down to me, what goes on inside my head,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how well you practice. You need to be tough in the matches.”

Top-ranked Roger Federer held every service game and won his opening match by beating lucky loser Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-3. Federer, the Key Biscayne champion in 2005-06, has an inviting path to the final with Murray out. No. 2 Novak Djokovic was eliminated Friday.

Rafael Nadal will overtake Murray for the No. 3 spot in the next rankings, while Fish advances to the third round at Key Biscayne for the first time since 2003.

“I desperately wanted to play well here,” said Fish, who is from Vero Beach.

Once a top-20 player, Fish joked that declining fortunes have made him a doubles specialist. It’s true he’s playing doubles at Key Biscayne, but he’s also mounting a comeback from left knee surgery last September.

Fish’s ranking of 101st will rise thanks to his second career win over a player ranked in the top three. He beat Federer at Indian Wells two years ago.

While U.S. tennis fans could boast about the upset, their lone remaining hope on the women’s side also advanced. Three-time champion Venus Williams reached the fourth round by beating Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4.

Williams is the only American who reached the final 32 in the women’s draw. She and sister Serena are the lone U.S. women in the top 40.

“It’s just definitely strange because of the unbelievable tradition we’ve had with tennis for Americans since the beginning,” Williams said. “That’s what makes it so odd. With Serena and me, the standard has been set pretty high. Hopefully there will be someone coming along soon with the tools and the traits, and who will build that in their game to get there.”

Serena has been sidelined with a knee injury since winning the Australian Open in January. She’s working out this month with fitness guru Mackie Shilstone but withdrew from the tournament before the start.

While Serena is ranked No. 1, Venus is the hottest player on the women’s tour—not necessarily because of the red corset she unveiled this week, but because she has won 12 consecutive matches. The winning streak includes three victories after losing the first set.

“I’ve come from down, up, around and over,” she said. “Being on a winning streak helps my confidence every time.”

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat No. 27 Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-3. Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic’s recent struggles continued with a loss to No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 7-5.

Joining Fish in the third round were No. 5-seeded Robin Soderling and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco. Soderling beat Peter Luczak 7-6 (5), 6-0, and Verdasco eliminated Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2.

Murray trains in nearby Miami, and he became the first British player to win Key Biscayne when he beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s final. But the Scotsman said he sensed trouble against Fish, even serving with a 3-1, 40-love lead.

The tide turned when Murray lost that game.

“I just wasn’t very good today, and I’m going to need to get a lot better,” he said. “If you leave the ball short in the middle of the court, it’s very easy for guys to attack and be aggressive.”

Fish lost just six points on his first serve. He hit 28 winners to Murray’s nine and frequently charged the net behind returns.

“Playing a guy like Andy, I needed to stay aggressive,” Fish said. “I’m just not going to win the points very often if they go 10 shots in a row.”

Murray went only 1 for 5 converting break-point chances, but he wasn’t at fault. Fish hit several unreturnable serves in those situations.

“You’ve got to go in thinking you can actually win,” Fish said. “That helps.”

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)—Fernando Gonzalez and Andy Roddick have arranged a charity doubles match on the eve of the men’s final at the Sony Ericsson Open to benefit earthquake-stricken Chile.

Grand Slam champions Jim Courier and Gustavo Kuerten will also take part in the match next Saturday, which will follow the women’s final.

Gonzalez, a native of Santiago, Chile, recently visited 12 cities in his native country and said he saw the need for help. All proceeds from the event will benefit Hogar de Christo’s Chilean earthquake relief.

Justine Henin has defeated Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of Miami, repeating the result of their second-round meeting of the Australian Open earlier this season.

Novak Djokovic was jeered by the crowd during a 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4 loss to Olivier Rochus in his opening match at Miami, producing a sub-par performance that included 62 unforced errors.

“I was just kind of waiting for him to make the shots, and it wasn’t the right approach,” said Djokovic, who reached the final last year. “He was making me run a lot, so points were really long.

“I don’t feel great on the court, and everybody could see that.”