MELBOURNE, Australia – Lindsay Davenport got a tough workout from Karolina Sprem in the second round of the Australian Open before advancing Wednesday with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory.

After trading breaks in the third and fourth games, the first set went on serve, with Davenport winning the 12th game at love to force a tiebreaker.

Trailing 3-1, the top-ranked Davenport rallied after Sprem double-faulted, winning six of the last seven points and claiming the set with consecutive forehand winners.

“After being down in the tiebreaker, to come back and construct a few really good points, it was very key to get out of that,” Davenport said.

The 2000 Australian champion, had six breakpoint chances in the second set before finally converting after the sixth game went to deuce six times.

She won in the fourth-round here last year en route to the final and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2004, after Sprem had upset then defending champion Venus Williams.

Sprem worked Davenport around with some big serves and powerful forehands in the 1 hour, 25-minute match on Vodafone Arena, but let herself down with nine double-faults.

“It was a really tough match,” she said. “I knew she definitely had the ability to be dangerous, and that was the best that she’s played against me.

“I felt like I was hitting the ball well, just not quite hitting my spots.”

Davenport said Sprem’s power surprised her at times.

“Maybe I was just caught a little off guard,” she said. “But the more aggressive I could be, I felt like the match was in my favor.

“I was able to come through not playing perfect tennis but I still thought I did some things well everything about the match was a positive for me.”

She’ll face the winner of Wednesday’s match between Russians Maria Kirilenko and Galina Voskoboeva.

In another women’s match, Olga Savchuk of Ukraine beat Jelena Jankovic, the 23rd seed, 6-3, 6-4.

On the men’s side, No. 7 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 8 Guillermo Coria and No. 11 David Ferrer advanced.

Robby Ginepri failed to reproduce his successful marathon efforts of the U.S. Open, falling in five sets to German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr after leading by two sets and 3-0.

On Tuesday, Martina Hingis returned to Rod Laver Arena a little older, a little stronger and a little wiser, easily winning her first match in Melbourne since 2002 over Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-2.

Now ranked No. 349, Hingis was back for the first time since playing in six consecutive Australian Open finals she won three straight starting in 1997, then lost three straight.

Men’s winners Tuesday included top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt, who lost the final here last year to Marat Safin.

Hewitt, the home favorite, had to rally again and again to beat the Czech Republic’s Robin Vik 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in 3 hours, 45 minutes.

AP