ROME, May 10 (Xinhua) -- No. 1 Roger Federer and No.
2 Rafael Nadal stayed on course for another final showdown with two-set
victories over Italians in the second round of the Rome Masters ATP tournament
on Wednesday.
Federer ousted wild card Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6
(7-2), and defending champion Nadal eased past Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-2 for his
49th straight win on clay.
Starace broke Federer twice in
the second set and the Swiss needed seven game points to hold for 6-5. He saved
his best tennis for the tiebreak though, serving his first ace of the match on
the opening point, followed by a crosscourt backhand to end the
match.
Nadal won the first set against Volandri in 26
minutes. At 1-2 in the second, he saved three break points and reeled off the
last five games.
Nadal's third-round opponent will be British
serve-and-volleyer Tim Henman, who beat 15th-seeded Thomas Johansson 7-6 (10-8),
6-1, while Federer faces 14th-seeded Radek Stepanek, a 6-4, 7-6 (5) winner over
Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.
In other matches, fourth-seeded David Nalbandian beat
France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-4 for his seventh straight win, and
fifth-seeded Andy Roddick overcame Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Also, sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Spain's
Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Spain's Alberto Martin beat 13th-seeded Nicolas
Kiefer 6-3, 7-6(7-3), and French teenager Gael Monfils advanced with a 6-1, 4-6,
6-4 win over 16th-seeded American Robby Ginepri.
Marat Safin was up 6-0, 4-1 before losing to Spain's
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 0-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3).
Nalbandian is coming off his first title of the year
in Estorilon Sunday and is ranked a career-best No. 3 this week. He's 10-1 on
clay this season, and plays Martin next in his bid to reach a second Rome final
in three years.
Roddick's and Baghdatis' latest encounter was a messy
one, with a combined 13 breaks and 82 unforced errors.
Roddick will next play serve-and-volley specialist
Greg Rusedski, who eliminated Italian qualifier Stefano Galvani 7-6 (4),6-4.
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