Federer and Nadal go through in Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- Top seed Roger Federer eased past Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Hamburg Masters, while second seed Rafael Nadal also advanced, but had to work hard to overcome Potito Starace 6-4 7-6.

Nieminen had never won a set in eight previous matches against Federer and was the perfect opponent for the Swiss star to bounce back from a surprise loss last week at the Rome Masters.

"I thought it was a good performance," said Federer -- who has won this tournament four times. "He is a tough player although I've always beaten him in straight sets."

Federer lost in the quarterfinals in Rome to Radek Stepanek, but looked comfortable from the start on the sunny center court in Hamburg.

"When I got on the center court I felt good, I had so much success here," Federer said. "I hit a winner down the line on my first shot and I thought this place really works for me."

The defending champion used his full range of shots to dominate the first set, taking a 4-1 lead with a powerful forehand winner past Nieminen.

The second set was a sloppy affair, with four straight breaks of serve at the start. Federer then made the decisive move with another break for a 4-3 lead and wrapped up the match in under one hour. He had 22 winners, twice as many as Nieminen.

Federer has only one title so far this year, at a relatively small clay-court tournament last month in Estoril, Portugal. He has a 23-6 match record.

In contrast to Federer, Nadal spent more than two hours on court against Italian Starace, world-ranked 47.

He was lucky to escape in the tiebreaker, when Starace won three straight points to gain a set point. But he double-faulted, then hit an open forehand into the net, before Nadal used a volley to win the match.

Nadal also lost in Rome, in the third round to Juan Carlos Ferrero, when he had a blister on the sole of his right foot. It was only Nadal's second loss in his last 105 matches on clay. The other one was in last year's Hamburg final to Federer.

Earlier, Janko Tipsarevic rallied to upset seventh-seeded James Blake 4-6 6-3 6-3. Blake broke Tipsarevic's serve to win the first set, but the tenacious 33rd-ranked Tipsarevic got steadier in the second set and then broke Blake's serve for a 2-0 lead in the third.

Nicolas Kiefer beat Slanislas Wawrinka -- the runner-up at the Rome Masters on Sunday -- 7-5, 7-5. Kiefer saved two set points in the second after dropping his serve, then tied the set at 5-5 and won on his second match point when Wawrinka's forehand hit the net.

Ivo Karlovic upset the 13th-seeded 2006 Hamburg champion Tommy Robredo 3-6 6-2 7-6, while 11th seed Andy Murray overcame Gilles Simon 6-3 6-3 and next faces Nadal.

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