Roger Federer began his latest bid for a first title of the year with a confident 6-1, 7-5 win over Robin Soderling on Tuesday, while Andy Murray came through a much stiffer test against Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6, 6-4. World number two Federer has now won all nine of his matches against Soderling and his second round victory at the Madrid Open was never in real doubt. The 13-times grand slam champion next plays either American James Blake or Croat Ivo Karlovic. Blake continued his new clay prowess over Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-4 while Karlovic rode his big serve to a defeat of Julien Benneteau 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4. World number three Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Open when she was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 by unseeded Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova in the second round. Murray will play Tommy Robredo in the third round on Thursday. The 16th-seeded Spaniard came back from a set down to beat American Mardy Fish 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 and Murray said it would be a good test for him. Fernando Verdasco continued his fine form and secured a berth in the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. Croatian wild card Ivan Ljubicic upset French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga when he beat the 2008 Australian Open finalist 6-4 7-5. World number one Rafael Nadal begins his quest for a sixth title this year, and fourth on clay, against Austrian Juergen Melzer on Wednesday. In the first round, Russian tenth seed Nikolay Davydenko continued his improvement after coming back from three months away with a heel injury, advancing over Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-2, 6-2. On the women's side, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic got off to a win, beating Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2 while Danish number nine Caroline Wozniacki crushed American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 6-1. Unseeded Amelie Mauresmo overwhelmed China's 15th seed Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-5. Italy's Francesca Schiavone, Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Russia's Vera Dushevina were also winners on Tuesday.
