Associated Press

Hamburg, May 11:

Top-ranked Roger Federer cruised into the third round of the Hamburg Masters by beating Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday.

In his first tournament following a three-week break to rest inflammation in both feet, Federer will next meet Tommy Robredo, who beat three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 6-0.

Britain’s Tim Henman had to battle against countryman Greg Ruse-dski. The fifth-seeded Henman won 7-6, 6-4.

Robredo, seeded 14th, needed just 62 minutes to beat the 2000 Hamburg champion, who had 32 unforced errors to Robredo’s 14.

In other early matches, Juan Ignacio Chela beat Robin Soderling 6-1, 6-4 and Nikolay Davydenko, seeded 15th, ousted Mariano Puerta 7-5, 6-3. Andre Agassi struggled in cold, wet weather and lost 6-2, 7-6 to Feliciano Lopez in the first round match.

Italian Open

ROME: Maria Sharapova overpowered Spanish opponent in the second round of the Italian Open, but the Russian still has a long way to go before claiming the top ranking in women’s tennis. The top-seed beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-2.

Countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova, the next highest seed in her quarter of the draw, was upset by Paola Suarez of Argentina 6-2, 6-4.

In first-round upsets, Anna Smashnova of Israel beat No 11 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia

6-1, 6-3, Serbian Ava Ivanovic eliminated No 12 Tatiana Golovin of France 6-3, 6-4, and Flavia Pennetta of Italy beat No 14 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-2, 6-3.