Federer and Murray win but Venus falls

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:28

World number two Federer, who has 57 career titles to his name but is still searching for his first tournament win of 2009, needed just over an hour to get past Robin Soderling 6-1 7-5 and the Swiss ace will now meet either James Blake or Ivo Karlovic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Defending champion Murray also progressed through his opening match of the competition, although he was given a hard time by Italian Simone Bolelli before winning 7-6 (11/9) 6-4.

The big upset in the women’s draw was the second round exit of fifth seed Williams, who was beaten 6-3 3-6 7-5 by Russian Alisa Kleybanova. Williams’ sister Serena, the world number two, withdrew from the event on Monday due to a knee injury.

Venus was not the only seed to suffer a shock defeat either, with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the number nine, finding himself ousted by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 7-5.

In the other second round men’s matches, seventh-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco beat countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3 6-2.

Meanwhile, Anne Keothavong’s participation in the Madrid Open singles came to an end on Tuesday night after she lost her second round match to Lucie Safarova in straight sets.

The British number one, who beat Colombian Mariana Duque Marino in the first round, managed to save three break points in the first set but despite that was still swept aside 6-1.

The 25-year-old Londoner made her Czech opponent work harder in the second set but Safarova still came out on top to seal a 7-5 set win and book a third-round meeting with either top seed Dinara Safina or Na Li.

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