Top five seeds advance as Federer toils

Rafael Nadal led the men's elite into the third round of the ATP-WTA Madrid Masters on Wednesday as the major names swept to solid victories and Roger Federer was made to struggle.

Nadal led the way for rivals Novak Djokovic, Federer, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling on a full day's programme at the Caja Magica.

While the rest won without problems, Federer had to come through a huge battle to wear down Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (15/13), 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (9/7), taking nearly three hours and firing 25 aces outside a Grand Slam event for the first time in his career.

AFP