Federer wins on Rome return, Bouchard packs off Kerber

Roger Federer joined Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in reaching the third round of the Rome Masters yesterday with the Swiss admitting that he was fully expecting to lose against Alexander Zverev.
“I’m cautious but extremely happy. I was expecting to lose in straight sets today,” admitted the 17-time Grand Slam champion, who withdrew last week from Madrid with back pain.
“That was the mindset going in. To win in straights is actually a really big surprise to me.
“I only decided after the warm-up that I was actually going to play. For me it was a big match on many levels,” he added after the 6-3, 7-5 win.
The 89-minute match was the first for the 34-year-old Swiss since losing a Monte Carlo quarter-final to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga nearly a month ago.
Even in victory Federer said that he would decide at the last minute whether he can take to the court against 13th seed Dominic Thiem next, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Joao Sousa.
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow. I hope (I can play). I’m literally going practice after practices. It’s baby steps right now. So to even think of tomorrow is already a big ask.”
Top seed Djokovic and number two Murray produced no-drama victories, with the Serb beating Stephane Robert 7-5, 7-5 while Murray put out Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-3.
Federer is playing here for the 16th time as he seeks his first Rome title. The Swiss has finished runner-up four times, most recently last year against Djokovic.
Rome marks only the fourth tournament of the season for Federer, who underwent knee surgery in early February, the first operation of his career. Victory over Zverev sent Federer’s record in 2016 to 11-3.
Zverev, aged 19 and ranked 44th, could not have asked for a more challenging Rome debut as he faced off against his tennis idol. His loss left him 0-8 against top 10 opponents.
Federer broke for 4-2 on his way to collecting the opening set in 28 minutes. The Swiss then earned a break in the third game of the second set but then lost serve for 2-all.
The veteran broke back on his fourth opportunity in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead and finished off the welcome win a game later, a drop shot setting up two match points with Zverev driving wide on the first.
German Philipp Kohlschreiber booked his place in the second round by defeating Spaniard Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 6-2. Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori turned on a second-round fightback as he rallied past Viktor Troicki 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Czech eighth seed Tomas Berdych advanced after the bye given to the top eight seeds, beating Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4.
“After the first set I tried to step in a little more, I (was) aggressive enough,” Asia’s top player Nishikori said.
“In the second and third I started hitting a much better backhand. Everything worked well after the first set. Tennis-wise I’m happy what I’m doing. I’m serving well, returning well. If I can keep it up, I think I will have a good chance here.”
French Open champion and fourth seed Stan Wawrinka started with a defeat of Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, sweeping their final set to reach the third round.
In women’s second-round play, Eugenie Bouchard handed second-seeded Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 defeat, her second straight in an opening match after losing last week in Madrid.
“In the first one-and-a-half sets I was completely not playing my game and I was completely not on the court,” the German said.
“I was just trying to fight back. I was not playing my best tennis. But of course I was fighting and the third set was really close. At the end she played good and won the last point.”
Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza crushed Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-0 while Madrid quarter-finalist Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania upset injured fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2.
The Belarusian withdrew with lower back pain last week from Madrid and was unable to fight off her Rome challenger after winning all five of their previous meetings.
“I was trying but it didn’t work,” Azarenka said. “The back is not good right now. I’m very disappointed obviously with that. I thought I was okay and was ready to play and came back, so I’m just disappointed. We’ll see what happens. I’m not going to think about the future.”
Swiss 11th seed Timea Bacsinszky defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-4 and American Christina McHale beat 13th seed Ana Ivanovic 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-1.
In Tuesday’s late opening round games at the ATP-WTA event, ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was through over Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4; Britain’s Johanna Konta stopped namesake Swede Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-2; and Switzerland’s Timea Babos started with a victory against Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-4.
Two Australians advanced as Daria Gavrilova beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) and Samantha Stosur fought back over Alison Riske 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. German Juila Goerges lost a lead to go out 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to Lesia Tsurenko.
Top seed Serena Williams, winner of two of the last three editions in Rome, began with a defeat of German Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-4, 6-3.
“To be honest, I was really happy with my level,” American Williams, playing her first match in more than six weeks, said.
“I was mentally consistent, I started out fast. I felt really good.
“I was really concerned how it would be just running and moving and recovering. But it was fun,” she added after withdrawing last week in Madrid due to illness.
Meanwhile, with titles in his first two European clay events of the spring and a semi-final in the third, Rafael Nadal remains calm and contained as he prepares his bid for an eighth trophy at the Rome Masters.
The Spanish ‘King of Clay’, fast approaching his 30th birthday in early June, lifted the last of his seven honours at the Foro Italico in 2013, and he remains hungry for more.
“My game is good, three tournaments, two victories (Monte Carlo, Barcelona), one semi-final…
“Tough tournaments, good victories, good matches… If I’m not happy now, I don’t know when (I’m) gonna be happy,” he said after a training session on the Italian clay that plays similar to that of Roland Garros.
“This is a different tournament, different conditions (than Madrid, where he lost in the semis to Andy Murray). You arrive without perfect timing, but it’s also a tournament that I know very well, and it’s obvious that the first round is a difficult one (against German Philipp Kohlschreiber).
“The feelings are different and the feeling on the ball is completely different. The early rounds are always very dangerous,” the Spaniard added.