: Roger Federer, playing in his final event before the US Open, surged into the third round of the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament on Tuesday by beating Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.
The Swiss star, who turned 30 earlier this month, cruised past del Potro 6-3, 7-5 for his first win over the Argentine in their last three matches which included the 2009 US Open final. Federer had won their first six meetings, dating back to Wimbledon in 2007.
Federer hammered 12 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points in the 92-minute match on Centre Court.
Czech Radek Stepanek — winner of his first title in two and a half years earlier this month when he won the Washington Classic — withstood 21 aces from John Isner to defeat the gargantuan American 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4).
In the women's tournament, French Open champion Li Na also moved smoothly into the third round with a straight-set victory over Lucie Safarova.
Fourth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, sixth-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli also swept past their opponents in second-round matches on Tuesday.
All of the top eight seeds, led on the women's side by Caroline Wozniacki and on the men's by Novak Djokovic, have first-round byes. In other first-round matches, in-form former World No. 1 Serena Williams — winner of her last two tournaments — held on to beat tenacious Czech Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 7-6(5).
The results :
Men: Second round : Tomas Berdych bt Juan Monaco 7-6(2), 6-0; James Blake bt Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-2; Roger Federer bt Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 7-5.
First round : Ivo Karlovic bt Florian Mayer 6-1, 6-3; Nikolay Davydenko bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 7-6(5); Janko Tipsarevic bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(5); Nicolas Almagro bt Albert Montanes 7-6(5), 6-4; Andrey Golubev bt Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4; Ivan Dodig bt Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6(3); Michael Llodra bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4).
Radek Stepanek bt John Isner 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4); Gilles Simon bt Jurgen Melzer 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5; Julien Benneteau bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 1-0, retired; Kevin Anderson bt Xavier Malisse 6-3, 7-6(8).
Women: Second round : Li Na bt Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4; Marion Bartoli bt Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2; Maria Sharapova bt Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3; Petra Kvitova bt Chanelle Scheepers 7-6(3), 6-3.
First round : Nadia Petrova bt Roberta Vinci 6-3, 0-6, 6-4; Flavia Pennetta bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; Jelena Jankovic bt Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-3; Maria Kirilenko bt Zhang Shuai 7-6(2), 6-3; Yanina Wickmayer bt Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-4; Serena Williams bt Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 7-6(5); Samantha Stosur bt Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 6-1; Peng Shuai bt Gisela Dulko 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
