Fresh off a title in Madrid and back up to No. 2 in the rankings, Roger Federer showed off his strong form with a routine 6-3, 6-4 win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in his opening match at the clay court Italian Open.
World number 3 Rafael Nadal beat Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5.
In women's action, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka routed Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 6-2 then announced she was withdrawing because of a right shoulder injury as a precaution ahead of the French Open which starts on the 27th of May.
Serena Williams rallied past Nadia Petrova of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to 15 matches.
Venus Williams also reached the third round, eliminating Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 7-6 (7), 6-1.
