Federer, Djokovic ease past qualifiers in Miami

World No 2 Roger Federer and No 3 Novak Djokovic eased into the third round of the Miami ATP Masters 1000 tournament yesterday with victories over qualifiers.

Switzerland's Federer, playing just his second tournament since losing to Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, beat American Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-2.

Federer said it was always tricky taking on an unfamiliar opponent, even one ranked well below him.

"I've never played him before, so of course I was always going to get surprised in some points just because I didn't know what his favorite shot was," he said. "But I realized very quickly what his pattern was, especially on the serve, as well. Even though he had a good serve today, he had a good few games, but I think I did well today. It was a great start to the tournament."

The 13-time Grand Slam champion next faces Germany's Nicolas Kiefer, a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 over France's Fabrice Santoro.

Djokovic booked his third-round berth with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-2.

Serbia's Djokovic saved all six break points he faced, breaking Dancevic three times en route to a victory in 70 minutes.

Djokovic, the 2007 titlist here, improved on his performance last year when as defending champion he lost his opening match to South Africa's Kevin Anderson.

Federer, winner of back-to-back titles here in 2005-06, took time off after the Australian Open to recover from a lingering back injury.

He appeared headed to a re-match with Nadal at the first Masters 1000 event of the year last week at Indian Wells, but fell in the semi-finals to Britain's Andy Murray.

"I feel like this is an important week for me to do well, especially now that I have matches again under my belt," Federer said. "I'm into the third round here, so I feel like things are going well for me again.

Murray's run to the final in California moved the World No 4 even closer to bumping Djokovic from the No 3 spot.

Fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick opened his campaign with an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 rout of Argentina's Diego Junqueira that took less than an hour.

In women's second-round matches, second-seeded Russian Dinara Safina, who has a chance to leave here with the No 1 ranking, coasted into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mathilde Johansson of France.

Safina would have overtaken Serena Williams atop the rankings had she reached the Indian Wells final last week, but the world No 2 lost in the quarter-finals.

Safina, 22 and the younger sister of former men's World No 1 Marat Safin will get another shot at the top spot if things break her way this week.

Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who lost her opening match at Indian Wells, bounced back with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over countrywoman Anastasia Pivovarova.

Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine, and eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.