Four-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic recorded his 34th match win of the year Wednesday when he booked his place in the third round of the Rome Masters with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over qualifier Stephane Robert in 87 minutes. World No. 1 Djokovic, who will next face Thomaz Bellucci, has lifted five trophies this year, including three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns. Bellucci advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Nicolas Mahut. Djokovic saved one break point at 1-1, 30/40 in the first set and had to wait until the 12th game to break, when he converted his second set point opportunity. Robert hit a stunning backhand winner to break Djokovic for a 2-1 lead in the second set. Djokovic had to wait patiently until the eighth game for his chance to break back. He sealed the win by breaking in the final game. Roger Federer, meanwhile, put his full array of shots on display in a 6-3, 7-5 win over German player Alexander Zverev. After withdrawing from last week's Madrid Open with lower back pain, Federer looked sharp from the start against the 44th-ranked Zverev, using his backhand slice drop shot especially well. The 19-year-old Zverev, considered a potential future Grand Slam champion, often found himself running down shots wide in the alleys. At one point, Zverev was pulled so far off the court he ended up in the lap of a line judge — then hugged the official after Federer put away an easy volley. Federer next plays promising young Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem, who defeated Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2. Andy Murray of Britain also advanced beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3. In women's second-round play, Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza crushed Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-0 while Madrid quarterfinalist Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania upset injured fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2. The Belarusian withdrew last week from Madrid with back pain and was unable to fight off her Rome challenger after winning all five of their previous meetings. Czech Barbora Strycova beat Britain's Heather Watson 6-4, 6-2, while Muguruza called her winning effort "a great match." The Spaniard will face Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko next. In the first of the second-round matches Tuesday, Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori had to fight back from a set down to see off Serb Viktor Troicki 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Roland Garros holder Stan Wawrinka, the fourth seed in Italy, raced through the final two sets in beating Frenchman Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut, Stephane Robert and Jeremy Chardy all won their first-round ties. Serena Williams played her first match since late March in Miami, advancing to the third round after beating Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies
