Roger Federer will be returning to his newborn twins earlier than expected after his Rome Masters adventure ended with a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6, (8/6) second-round defeat by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday.
Fourth seed Federer made a promising start, but with dust whipping up off the surface and the ball playing tricks, Chardy fought back with some brutal forehand winners and saved match point in the tiebreak before sealing victory.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal labored into the third round with an energy-sapping 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 victory over dangerous Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Photo: Reuters
The 13-time Grand Slam winner has endured a slow start to the season, winning just three titles and suffering a number of uncharacteristic losses on his favored clay surface.
He won the Madrid Open on Sunday after his final opponent, Kei Nishikori of Japan, was forced to retire through injury having been on the brink of victory and Nadal was forced to endure another scare by Simon.
The 29-year-old forced Nadal into a tiebreak in the opening set, but the Spaniard gained the impetus and his heavy groundstrokes gave him the lead.
In the second set Simon, a former world No. 6, survived an early break, match point, and a brief interruption by an errant pigeon before forcing a deciding set with a series of powerful forehands.
Nadal, the “King of Clay,” coped best in a draining final set and from 2-2 won four games in a row to claim victory, but doubts remained about his form ahead of his bid for a record-extending ninth French Open title starting later this month.
Andy Murray made light of the swirling winds to ease past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 7-5.
The seventh-seeded Briton proved far too solid for his unseeded rival as he set up a third-round clash with Austrian veteran Juergen Melzer.
Murray reeled off four games in a row from 2-2 in the opening set and, apart from losing his opening service game in the second set, he always looked in control.
While not being forced to play his best tennis, it was an impressive opening for Murray, who a year ago at the same tournament retired with a back injury against the same opponent.
Melzer beat Croatia’s Marin Cilic in three sets and sixth seed Tomas Berdych saw off Dimitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-3.
Women’s top seed Serena Williams showed no signs of the thigh injury that had threatened her participation in the tournament with a routine 6-2, 6-2 win over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.
She is to be joined in the third round by Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who beat Monica Puig 6-3, 7-5 to record her 12th win from 12 matches on clay this year.
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