Tennis: Federer regains form to make third round

MADRID - Defending champion Roger Federer shrugged off his recent dip in form to cruise into the third round of the Madrid Masters yesterday, beating Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (4).

The top-seeded Federer broke serve straight away and then broke again to close out the first set. He missed two match points when 5-6 up in the second set before taking control of the second set tiebreaker to win in 1 hour, 21 minutes.

Federer is seeking to improve his game in Madrid. He lost his first clay-court match of the year at the Rome Masters before exiting the Estoril Open at the semifinal stage.

The Swiss has reached the final in three of the past four years and is hoping Madrid will galvanise his season as it did last year, when he went on to win the French Open and Wimbledon.

"The moment the match started, I felt great. I was hitting the ball fine and I think the centre court here just feels right to me - I've never lost on it, so that gives me confidence and I think it showed today in my game."

Federer will play either Stanislas Wawrinka or Julien Benneteau.

Fernando Verdasco lived up to his billing as home favourite by beating Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (5), 6-3 in their first meeting on clay.

In a tight opening set, Verdasco struggled to handle Karlovic's serve although the sixth seed looked more comfortable with the return in the second. "It's always a pleasure to play in my city and it makes me proud," said Verdasco.

In the first round, 16th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci beat Pere Riba of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Wild card David Nalbandian, the champion in 2007, and his opponent Tomas Berdych both withdrew due to separate injuries before their match. The organisers did not specify the nature of the injuries.

Michael Russell and Mardy Fish, two players who narrowly failed to get through the qualifying phase, were drafted in as replacements. Fish won the match 6-2, 7-6 (1).

On the women's side, 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 6-2, 6-3 in an upset by 26th-ranked Alona Bondarenko. The Ukrainian will play Li Na of China in the third round.

In another shock result, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania beat sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

- AP