Federer, Nadal sail into third round of Monte Carlo Masters

Johannesburg: Swiss ace Roger Federer and world No.1 Rafael Nadal have sailed into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday following their respective wins over Radek Stepanek and Teimuraz Gabashvili.

The former world No.1 defeated the his Czech fellow veteran 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes, while the Spaniard spent 72 minutes in smothering any upset hopes of Russian Gabashvili, who got off to a shock 3-1 lead before Nadal reeled him in for a 6-4, 6-1 success. According to Sport24, the 17-time Major winner, who has never won the title at the seaside Monte Carlo Country Club, will next face off for a quarter-final spot on Thursday when he takes on Lukas Rosol, who beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4. Nadal, champion at eight of the last nine editions, will now line up against Andreas Seppi after the Italian defeated Pablo Andujar 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4. Meanwhile, Australian Open champion and third seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who won an ATP Tour-leading 25th match of the season, was taking on Croatian Marin Cilic while Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic defeated Taiwan`s Yen Lu-Hsun 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1. Italian tenth seed Fabio Fognini beat Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, the report added.