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Federer beats nemesis Canas
06/05/2008 16:33 - (SA)
Rome - Roger Federer got by one of his most challenging opponents on Tuesday, beating Guillermo Canas 6-3 6-3 in the second round of the Rome Masters.
Canas beat Federer twice early last year and was one of the few players with a winning record against the top-ranked player. The pair are now tied 3-3 in career meetings.
All five of the previous meetings had came on hard courts. This tournament is a key clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 25.
Earlier, Andy Roddick defeated Mardy Fish 6-1 6-4 in an all-American matchup to get his clay-court season off to a solid start.
Roddick's only other match on clay this year was a Davis Cup win over Austria's Jurgen Melzer in February.
"It's OK," Roddick said of his feeling on clay. "I only have one match to judge it on and that's this one, so I guess it's good."
In first-round play, 2001 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero rallied past Nicolas Kiefer 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4 to set up a meeting with three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Also, 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4 6-1 and Jose Acasuso eliminated Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-2.
Federer broke to take a 4-2 lead in the first set when Canas double-faulted following a drop-shot winner from Federer.
Upset by Italian wild card
Canas relied on his speed to simply keep the ball in play and force Federer into mistakes. Federer committed 27 unforced errors to 13 for Canas, but led 34-10 in winners.
Federer saved the only break point he faced with a net-cord volley winner midway through the second set, then broke Canas twice to close the match out.
Rome is one of three Masters Series events that Federer has never won, with Monte Carlo and Paris the others. He was runner-up to Felix Mantilla in 2003 and lost a fifth-set tiebreaker to Nadal in the 2006 final.
Last year, Federer was upset by Italian wild card Filippo Volandri in the third round.
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Rugby
