Madrid: Novak Djokovic survived a testing second round match at the Madrid Masters on Wednesday after rival Victor Hanescu retired injured, while fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko was knocked out by American qualifier Robby Ginepri.

Davydenko’s 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat was a major blow as the Russian is chasing one of the four remaining places in next month’s eight-man Masters Cup in Shanghai and it came hot on the heels of his quarter final exit from last week’s Kremlin Cup.

Ginepri next meets Frenchman Gilles Simon, who knocked out 11th seed James Blake on Tuesday.

Third seed Djokovic, meanwhile, was pushed hard by Romanian world No. 73 Hanescu. The first two sets were decided in tight tie-breaks, with Hanescu grabbing the first 10-8 and the Serb sealing the second 8-6 when he pounced on a tame volley to slash a cross-court winner.

Fresh from his victory at the Stockholm Open, defending champion David Nalbandian overcame a mid-match wobble to beat Czech Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-7, 6-1. The Argentine will next play Davis Cup teammate Juan Martin del Potro, who went through after Finn Jarkko Nieminen retired during the second set.

”I played well, I feel confident. At the beginning of the second set, I lost control of the ball and my timing was off. After that, I played at a great level,” Nalbandian said. Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 16th seed, scraped through, winning a third-set tie-break to beat the impressive Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

Top seed Rafael Nadal said he was withdrawing from the doubles event, where he is partnering with Carlos Moya, after aggravating a lower back injury. Nadal was taken to three sets by Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis late on Tuesday. Nadal won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.