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Andy Murray waves goodbye - Source: Reuters -
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Three-times champion Roger Federer survived a second-set wobble
to overcome Romania's Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-7 6-1 in the second
round of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Monday.
While the Swiss world number one had to work harder than expected
in his first match back since winning the Australian Open in
January, Britain's Andy Murray shook off a bit of rust to outclass
Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4 6-4.
In other matches, sixth seed Swede Robin Soderling crushed Evgeny
Korolev of Kazakhstan 6-2 6-4 and seventh-seeded American Andy
Roddick eased past qualifier Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-4 6-4.
Federer, seeking a record fourth title at Indian Wells, appeared on
track for a clinical victory when he broke Hanescu in the second
game before winning the opening set in 30 minutes.
However, the 16-times grand slam champion was surprisingly broken
in the sixth game of the second when the Romanian struck a backhand
return winner down the line.
Although Federer fought back to 6-6, he fell behind 0-3 in the
tiebreak, which Hansecu won 7-5 to level the match when the Swiss
hit a backhand long.
Normal order was restored in the third set, though, as Federer
broke his opponent in the second and sixth games to seal victory.
He will next meet 27th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
"I was happy with the way I played," Federer, 28, told reporters.
"Not having played for so long, I thought it was a good match
overall.
Clutch Serving
"I missed some of the clutch serving when I really needed it,
couldn't really get that one perfect serve I was sometimes looking
for, but that's something that happens.
"Victor did well to hang in there because I was all over him for at
least a set-and-a-half and I could have made a difference really
early in the match, and I didn't.
"I didn't play the best tiebreaker, but still had a small chance,"
added the Swiss who is back to full fitness after suffering from a
lung infection last month.
"I remained calm in the third, and I played good tennis."
Murray, although not at his very best, broke Seppi in the seventh
game of the second set when the Italian pushed a backhand volley
wide before wrapping up the win in 86 minutes.
The fourth-seeded Scot ended the match with a crunching forehand
winner down the line on a sunny, breezy afternoon and will next
meet American Michael Russell.
"It was a pretty scrappy match today," Murray, 22, said after
competing for the first time on the ATP Tour since losing in the
second round of last month's Dubai Championships.
"There wasn't a particular point where I felt in a lot of trouble
but it's just because you've not played for a while.
"Obviously I started the year well in Australia and you remember
the feelings you had there," said Murray, who was beaten by Federer
in the Australian Open final.
Earlier, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro upset 23rd-seeded Croatian Ivo
Karlovic 7-5 7-6 and Baghdatis eased past Frenchman Arnaud Clement
7-6 6-1.
