Rome, May 16: Fresh off a title in Madrid and back up to No. 2 in the rankings, Roger Federer showed off his strong form with a routine 6-3, 6-4 win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in his opening match at the Italian Open on Wednesday.
Seeking to win one of only three Masters 1000 events he's never claimed, Federer dealt well with the swirling wind inside the 10,500-seat stadium at the Foro Italico, coming to the net often to finish off points early.
Federer won 18 of 23 points at the net and held a 24-13 edge in winners against the 38th-ranked Berlocq in their first ever meeting. The match lasted just 1 hour, 9 minutes, and Federer next faces former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2001 Rome champion.
Federer has reached the final twice in Rome, losing to Felix Mantilla in 2003 and to Rafael Nadal in a fifth-set tiebreaker in 2006.
While his ranking is No. 2, Federer is still seeded No. 3 this week.
In other matches, 14th-seeded Juan Monaco cruised past Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2; and Marcel Granollers of Spain eliminated Italian wild card Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4.
There were several upsets in the women's tournament, with No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 6 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 7 Marion Bartoli each losing.
Radwanska was beaten by 28th-ranked Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Wozniacki retired with upper respiratory illness while trailing 6-4, 4-0 to Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain; and Bartoli was eliminated 6-3, 6-1 by Julia Goerges of Germany.
Three seeds advanced.
No. 5 Samantha Stosur knocked out Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 7-5; French Open winner Li Na of China beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5; and 12th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany eliminated Vania King of the United States 6-3, 6-2.
Later, Nadal begins his pursuit of a sixth Rome title against 28th-ranked Florian Mayer, who beat the Spaniard in their only previous meeting. Both Serena and Venus Williams are also in action, as well as top-ranked Victoria Azarenka.
