Goran Ivanisevic's comeback gathered pace with a 6-4 5-7 7-6 win over Nicolas Escude in the first round of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami. Ivanisevic, troubled by shoulder and foot injuries since winning Wimbledon in 2001, needed a wildcard to gain entry to the Masters Series event.
But the 32-year-old won the first set in just 33 minutes before completing an impressive win over his French rival.
Ivanisevic, ranked 592 in the world, will now play Spain's Rafael Nadal.
Ivanisevic was joined in round two by fellow Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-1 6-3.
But countryman Ivo Karlovic lost 6-4 6-4 to Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who will now face Britain's Tim Henman.
Nikolay Davydenko of Russia edged past Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-2 2-6 6-3 for the right to meet world number one Roger Federer.
Wayne Ferreira defeated Raemon Sluiter 6-3 6-1 to secure a clash with third seed Guillermo Coria.
And Nicolas Kiefer's 6-3 6-4 win over Igor Andreev set up a fascinating match against fellow German and sixth seed Rainer Schuettler, who is suffering a horrendous run of form.
Number eight seed David Nalbandian of Argentina withdrew with an ankle injury sustained in a Davis Cup match last month.
MMIX
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