Sport - Tennis

Roddick beats Fish; Federer through

— Photo: AP

Serena Williams celebrates her win over Francesca Schiavone

Berlin: Roger Federer sailed through to the third round of the Rome Masters Series on Tuesday with a straight sets win over his bogey player from 2007, Guillermo Canas.

Federer, the top seed, made light work of Canas in what was his opening game of the tournament at the Foro Italico, winning through 6-3, 6-3, to erase the memories of twice losing to the Argentinian last year.

The Swiss World No. 1 produced a solid game which gave Canas few opportunities to pull in front, the Argentinian being allowed only one break of service in the 1hr 23min tie.

Earlier, Andy Roddick of the United States, the sixth seed, also coasted into the third round, with a 6-1, 6-4 win over compatriot Mardy Fish.

The top U.S. player showed no rust in his first game of the year on clay, polishing off the first set in 23 minutes.

Fish put up stiffer resistance at the start of the second, producing some thumping forehand winners before Roddick got the break in the seventh game of the set.

Former World No.1 Serena Williams breezed into the third round at the German Open in Berlin with a straight sets win over Italian Francesca Schiavone here on Tuesday.

The eight-times Grand Slam winner beat her Italian opponent 6-2, 6-3 and had few problems needing just one hour and 11 minutes to claim victory.

Williams has never won in Berlin and this is her first appearance in the German capital since 2002 when she lost in the final to current World No.1 Justine Henin.

The American is now likely to face 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland for a place in the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the day, French eighth-seed Marion Bartoli also booked her place in the third round when she beat Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic.

Bartoli, ranked 11th in the world, beat Safarova 6-0, 6-3 and is the last Frenchwoman left in the competition.

The results: ATP Rome Masters: Second round: Andy Roddick bt Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-4; Roger Federer bt Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-3.

First round: Tommy Robredo bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-1; Jose Acasuso bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Nicolas Kiefer 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.

At Berlin: WTA German Open: Second round: Serena Williams bt Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-3; Marion Bartoli bt Lucie Safarova 6-0, 6-3; Elena Dementieva bt Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2.

First round: Akgul Amanmuradova bt Aravane Rezai 7-5, 7-5; Catalina Castano bt Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-2; Alisa Kleybanova bt Olga Govortsova 6-0, 6-0; Victoria Azarenka bt Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 6-2; Yan Zi bt Martina Muller 6-2, 6-3; Peng Shuai bt Jill Craybas 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-0. — Agencies

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