Federer off to strong start in Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Roger Federer marched into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters Tuesday as the three-time finalist inflicted a 6-2, 6-1 defeat on German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

World No. 3 Federer, seeded second because No. 2 Novak Djokovic is out with a knee injury, earned a sixth victory without losing a set against the 32nd-ranked Kohlschreiber.

“I was able to do all the things I was hoping to.” said the satisfied Swiss. “I was consistent, consistently dangerous, too. I felt well in the offense and in the defense I was fine.

Federer, losing finalist at the Country Club 2006-2008 against Rafael Nadal, was the first of the major players to go into action after a bye.

Nadal, aiming for a historic seventh straight trophy here, had an early-morning fitness session with women’s Monte Carlo-based No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who had played an exhibition at the club on Monday.

French 16th seed Gilles Simon defeated Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-2 to start his week with a win.

But there was disappointment for 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.

“I felt I was playing extremely well for a set and a half,” said the Frenchman. “But I was not ahead in the score. Many things went wrong: bad bounces and I also I missed the important points.

AFP