Federer goes through the pain barrier

AN ACHING Roger Federer made up for lost time yesterday as he saw off Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Rome Masters.

The Swiss only decided to play after his morning practice session, carrying a few aches and pains following his Madrid Masters title win last weekend.

Second seed Rafa Nadal, beaten in the third round on the blue clay in Madrid, looked delighted to be back on the red stuff as he beat German Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5.

Adjusting from the slick, slippery blue clay to the far slower red clay of the Foro Italico with ease, Federer conceded he had been unsure what to do up to the very last minute. “I wanted to see how I felt and make sure that I didn’t have anything major because we’re ahead of a long summer,” he said. “If this was the last tournament of the season it would be no problem. But as this is the beginning of many tournaments in a row, potentially a lot of five-setters in a row, I need to make sure I make good decisions, so I go round by round.”

Andy Murray is back in action today against Richard Gasquet after the Frenchman beat Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-2.