Nadal beats ace American teenager Querrey

CINCINNATI, August 15 (Reuters) Rafael Nadal overcame 10 aces from American Sam Querrey to defeat the teenager 6-7 6-2 6-3 and advance into the second round of the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament today.

The Spanish number two took the first step towards a seeded meeting in the final with Roger Federer, who won his seventh title of the season last weekend in Toronto.

Querrey, the newest of the home hopes, is ranked 178th in the world and Nadal, who prevailed in just over two hours as he broke three times while never losing serve, paid tribute to him.

''He has an unbelievable serve but in the third set I improved my game a lot,'' Nadal told reporters. ''My forehand got better and I relaxed.'' The Spaniard, who won the last of his five 2006 titles at Roland Garros in June, was beaten last week in the Toronto third round by Czech Tomas Berdych.

''I need to get some more confidence in my game,'' he said. ''My movement also needs to improve and I need to play with more aggression.'' Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic dismissed Greg Rusedski 6-3 6-4 as the Briton lost his sixth consecutive first-round match. Swede Robin Soderling defeated the 11th-seeeded Berdych 6-4 6-3.

Andy Murray defeated Tim Henman in the second battle of Britain in as many weeks, earning a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory.

The Scottish teenager had beaten his 31-year-old mentor in Basel last year and again last week in the Toronto second round.

''I don't particularly enjoy playing Tim, to be honest. I don't feel satisfied at the end of a match having won against him,'' Murray told reporters. ''I don't like having to shake Tim's hand at the end of the match having won against him.'' German Tommy Haas, the 14th seed, defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3 6-4 while Russian Marat Safin lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4 7-5.

REUTERS PDS PM0239