D.C. Tennis Tournament : Jaite, Carlsson and Vilas Win Their Second-Round Matches

Third-seeded Martin Jaite and sixth-seeded Kent Carlsson breezed through straight-set victories Wednesday, and Guillermo Vilas overpowered Sweden’s Henrik Sundstrom to move into the third round of the $220,000 D.C. tennis tournament.

Jaite, of Argentina, dominated Cesar Kist of Brazil, 6-2, 6-3, while Carlsson had little trouble handling Jay Berger, 6-1, 6-2.

Carlsson will face qualifier Jorge Arrese of Spain, who outlasted 11th-seeded Libor Pimek in a 2-hour 47-minute match, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Vilas, the fourth-seeded player, used his steady groundstrokes to answer Sundstrom’s big serve, beating the Swede, 6-4, 6-2.

Vilas, who will be 34 next month, took command by breaking the younger Sundstrom in the first and third games of the second set. Vilas returned two straight slams from the charging Sundstrom in the third game, and the frustrated Sundstrom finally pushed a hard return into the net to finish the break and fall behind, 3-0.

Jaite, ranked 16th in the world, started quickly, breaking Kist in the fourth game to move ahead, 3-1, and using his speed on the baseline to get to everything the Brazilian served up.

“I’m playing better because I’ve got more experience. I’m more aggressive,” said Jaite, the runner-up to Gomez in Boston last week.

A finalist here last year, Jaite is trying to move up in the rankings in a year that has brought him one title--at Bologna, Italy--and a quarterfinal victory over Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in the Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills, N.Y.