Roger Federer kicked off his Rome campaign with a convincing win over Potito Starace on Tuesday. Federer is joined in the third round by potential quarterfinal opponent Richard Gasquet, a straight-set winner over Grigor Dimitrov.
(2) Roger Federer d. Potito Starace 6-1, 6-2
Federer bounced back from an early loss to Kei Nishikori last week in Madrid by dominating Starace in a mere 50 minutes on Tuesday night at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The third-ranked Swiss fired 35 winners to just eight unforced errors in his opening match at the Foro Italico.
Starace, who beat Radek Stepanek in round one, held his first service game for 1-1 in the opening set but dropped his next one at love. Federer cruised from there, although the No. 2 seed did have to save two break points while serving for the set at 5-1. When Federer won a five-deuce game to begin the second, it was all but over. It officially came to a conclusion when the 17-time Grand Slam champion struck his fourth ace at 5-2, 40-0. Next up for Federer is either Gilles Simon or Mikhail Youzhny.
(9) Richard Gasquet d. Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4
Gasquet cruised past Dimitrov in just one hour and 13 minutes on Tuesday afternoon. Dimitrov had reached the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo and the third round in Madrid, but he was off the mark right from the start in Rome. The 22-year-old Bulgarian dropped serve in the opening game of the match and never really recovered. Gasquet consolidated his lead the entire way in the first set, including when he battled out of a 0-30 hole at 5-4. The Frenchman converted his first set point at 40-30 with a clean backhand winner.
Only a brief hiccup at the start of the second delayed a seemingly inevitable outcome. Gasquet donated serve to fall behind 2-0, but it only served as a wakeup call. The world No. 9 promptly won 11 consecutive points from 0-2 to 2-2, 0-40 with Dimitrov serving. Gasquet seized another break for 3-2 and maintained his advantage without any trouble until the finish line. This week’s ninth seed recorded five aces and two double-faults as he became Rome’s first man into the third round. Gasquet now awaits either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Jerzy Janowicz.
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