Federer and Nadal win with ease in Doha

ROGER Federer and Rafael Nadal both made light work of their first-round opponents at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.

In his first ATP World Tour match of the season, world No1 Federer was in a ruthless mood against Belgium’s Christophe Rochus. Federer, who will face Russia’s Evgeny Korolev in the second round, needed less than an hour to defeat Rochus 6-1, 6-2.

Nadal, meanwhile, demonstrated his impressive form in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Simone Bolelli.

One of the most popular victories of the day went to Moroccan wild card Younes El Aynaoui, who defeated US qualifier Ryler DeHeart 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4).

The 38-year-old, who has already indicated he will retire following this tournament, became the oldest player to win an ATP Tour match since a 42-year-old Jimmy Connors in Halle in 1995.

Elsewhere, America’s Robby Ginepri stunned top seed and world No8 Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Chennai Open in India.

In Brisbane, James Blake beat fellow American and fifth seed Sam Querry 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and sixth seed Jurgen Melzer lost 7-5, 6-1 to qualifier Matthew Ebden. Fourth seed Tomas Berdych beat Nick Lindahl 6-2, 6-4, while there were wins for Carsten Ball, Oleksandr Dolgopolov and Marcos Baghdatis.