Ivanisevic Shows His Old Form

Goran Ivanisevic double-faulted four times in one game, twice blew leads in the second set and threw a ball off his forehead in exasperation.

With characteristic high-wire theatrics Wednesday, Ivanisevic edged Nicolas Escude, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7), in the first round of the Nasdaq-100 Open at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The victory was only the second in five matches this year for Ivanisevic, and that’s an improvement on 2003, when he went 0-3.

He also turned 32 last year and became a father as his ranking tumbled to 654th.

“Sometimes I feel a little bit lost,” he said. “Sometimes I feel, ‘What am I doing here? You have a daughter at home. Stay home.’ But in the end I hit some good shots and I’m happy.... “

In other men’s play, Robby Ginepri beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-2, 6-2, and Todd Martin rallied to beat Ivo Heuberger, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

No. 8-seeded David Nalbandian withdrew because he’s recovering from an ankle injury sustained last month.

On the women’s side, Ashley Harkleroad retired from her match because of a blister while trailing fellow American Jill Craybas, 6-2, 3-0, and Alexandra Stevenson lost to Klara Koukalova, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0.

Top-seeded Serena Williams, sidelined since undergoing knee surgery in August, will return Friday against Marta Marrero, who advanced by beating Angela Haynes 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1).

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With former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten leading a boycott of Brazil’s top players, the country’s federation called up three second-stringers for next month’s Davis Cup match against Paraguay.

Kuerten, Andre Sa, Flavio Saretta and Ricardo Mello are skipping the match to protest federation President Nelson Nastas and the choice of captain.

Instead, Maros Daniel, Alexandre Simoni and Julio Silva will fill in on the court April 9 to 11 against Paraguay.