Rome: Roger Federer opened his clay-court season with a solid doubles victory on Monday at the Rome Masters, while former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was upset by Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo in singles.
The top-ranked Federer paired with Swiss Davis Cup teammate Yves Allegro to beat Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer never dropped his serve and showed off effective volleying skills in his first match inside the new 10,500-seat stadium at the Foro Italico.
The 16-time Grand Slam winner is playing his first tournament on clay since winning his first French Open title last year. It was also the first time Federer played doubles this year — having won the gold medal with Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Federer and Allegro will next face sixth-seeded Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Paul Hanley of Australia.
In singles, Federer will open against 40th-ranked Ernests Gulbis on Tuesday.
Gulbis had an easy time in beating 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2.
The 76th-ranked Giraldo unleashed an arsenal of winners — 32 to Ferrero's nine — to beat the 2001 Rome winner 6-0, 6-3, requiring only 17 minutes to win the opening set.
The 12th-seeded Ferrero entered with an 18-3 record on clay this season, but Giraldo came in on a run of his own, having beaten tour veterans Nicolas Lapentti and Jarkko Nieminen in qualifying.
Also, 14th-seeded John Isner celebrated his 25th birthday by rallying to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 and 16th-seeded Juan Monaco ousted Igor Andreev 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Isner, the top American in the draw following Andy Roddick's withdrawal, hit 20 aces and faced only one break point — which he lost.
It was the 2.06-meter (6-foot-9) Isner's first win on clay this season, and the turning point came when a drop shot attempt from Zeballos hit the net to hand Isner his first break of the match and a 6-5 lead in the third set. The American then managed to shake off some nerves and finish Zeballos off on his third match point.
Julien Bennetau of France beat 15th-seeded Sam Querrey 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (2).
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany eliminated Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 and will now play four-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal.
In other matches, Italian wild card Paolo Lorenzi rallied to beat 31st-ranked Albert Montanes 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; another local wild card — Potito Starace — dismissed Czech qualifier Jan Hajek 6-2, 6-2; and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain beat Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-2.
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