Federer, Nadal, Murray advance to third round of Rome Masters

Following Novak Djokovic, the men's seeds all had a smooth start. Meanwhile, a small surprise happened in the women's event.

Andy Murray faced world No. 38 Jeremy Chardy in the second round of the Rome Masters. Saving two break points in the sixth game was the turning point for the British player to overcome his opponent in the first set with a score of 6-4. The developments in the second set were under Murray's control, helping him win 6-3 to close the match and secure a ticket to the first round.

"My legs were a bit heavy at the start of the match but then I started to feel better. I thought I played a good match even though Jeremy was giving me a few problems, especially in the first games of the first set. But then my movement improved and I got a good result today," said Andy Murray, who made just 10 unforced errors to his opponent's 26. His third-round opponent will be David Goffin, who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Murray's Madrid Masters finalist Rafael Nadal also had an easy start. It took Nadal just one hour and 14 minutes to defeat qualifier Marcel Ilhan. Winning 6-0 in the second set and dropping just two games in the first, the player who has just dropped to seventh in the world is eager to find his form on his favourite clay court. Nadal will meet "serving machine" John Isner in the third round after the American defeated Leonardo Mayer 7-6, 6-4.

Second seed Roger Federer was the latest to play in the second round. Meeting his Istanbul Open finalist Pablo Cuevas again, the “Express Train” scored eight aces without facing any breaks from his opponent, thereby opening his journey to conquer the first Rome Masters title with a fairly favorable 2-0 victory (7-6 and 6-4).

"I know I'm not the same person I was a few years ago and there are people who don't like this image. But there are still people who care about me. I'm happy with the win in the first match because last week in Madrid and last year here, I lost important points and left the tournament early," Federer said after the victory.

The Rome Masters is the only Masters 1000 title Federer is missing from his collection. The Swiss has reached the final three times but lost each time, to Mantilla in 2003, Nadal in 2006 and Nadal in 2013.

Also advancing to the third round in yesterday's series are Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini. Dimitrov is the next seeded player after Marin Cilic to say goodbye to the tournament, when he lost to Fabio Fognini after three sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-0.

In the women's category, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki were the two players who had to stop playing early after failing to get past the second round.

Wozniacki continues her disappointing run of form. Photo: Reuters.

Serbian beauty Ivanovic won the first set, but lost 1-2 in the next two sets, thereby once again disappointing by not being able to reach the quarterfinals of a Premier Mandatory tournament in 2015. Fifth seed Wozniacki lost weakly to Victoria Azarenka in just two sets with the scores of 6-2 and 7-6.

Meanwhile, notable names such as Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, and Petra Kvitova all had their first wins to enter the third round.

According to VNE