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Murray, Djokovic, Federer cruise on in Rome Masters

Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer yesterday came through their opening matches at the Rome Masters in straight sets.
Andy Murray

Andy Murray

Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer yesterday came through their opening matches at the Rome Masters in straight sets.

Murray, now the world number three following his defeat in the Madrid Masters final on Sunday, beat Ukrainian qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-3 to move on, and will face either Roberto Bautista or Jeremy Chardy in the next round.

The Scot’s serve, which gave him a lot of trouble at times during last week’s event, was in much better shape as Murray hit almost 70 per cent of his first serves in.

Djokovic had a tough battle against France’s Stephane Robert, the world number one scrapping hard on his way to a 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Federer also made it safely through with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Alexander Zevrev.

The Swiss was delighted to win having struggled with injury of late, which made him to withdraw from last week’s Madrid Open.

His victory seemed to surprise him, as he told reporters afterward:

“I was expecting to lose in straight sets today. That was the mindset going in, so to win in straights is actually a really big surprise to me. I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow.’’

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