SHANGHAI: Roger Federer marked a winning return to play Wednesday with another between-the-legs shot in his 6-3, 6-4 victory over American John Isner at the Shanghai Masters. Federer was playing his first match since the US Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, but showed few signs of rustiness as he moved into the third round, joining Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. The third-seeded Swiss broke Isner's big serve twice, but the highlight of his win came in the second set when he chased down a lob and flicked the ball back through his legs. Isner was so surprised, he put his volley into the net. The top-ranked Nadal, fresh from winning the Japan Open Sunday, began his quest for an eighth title of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stanislas Wawrinka. Andy Roddick's hopes of finishing a ninth straight season inside the top 10 suffered a blow when he had to retire from his second-round match against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain while leading 6-3, 2-3. Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko also went out of the tournament Wednesday. The sixth-seeded Russian fell to Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (3). Djokovic and Murray easily reached the third round. The second-ranked Djokovic beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, just two days after winning a rain-delayed final at the China Open. Djokovic next faces France's Richard Gasquet, who won two matches Wednesday following Tuesday's rain delays, beating Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-1, 6-4 in the afternoon and then upsetting 15th-seeded countryman Gael Monfils, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the evening. The fourth-seeded Murray beat 465th-ranked Chinese wild card Bai Yan 6-2, 6-2. Murray broke his opponent five times, while dropping his own serve only once. Next up for Murray is French qualifier Jeremy Chardy, who defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Other winners included fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden, No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain, 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria and 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who ousted American Sam Querrey. Eighth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia was upset by Florian Mayer of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1, and No. 14 Marin Cilic from Croatia was beaten by Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 6-2. Stosur, Bartoli advance In Japan, defending champion Samantha Stosur of Australia advanced to the Japan Women's Open quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Junri Namigata of Japan Wednesday. Second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2. World No. 4 Maria Kirilenko of Russia retired after dropping the first set 6-4 to Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan, while Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand outlasted Coco Vandeweghe of the US in a three-hour marathon 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Hantuchova wins opener In Austria, Daniela Hantuchova eased past Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the second round of the Generali Ladies. The Slovak, who won the event in 2007, is the highest-ranked player in the tournament after top-seeded Serena Williams withdrew with a foot injury. Hantuchova converted six of eight break points to set up a match with Carla Suarez Navarro. In second-round play, Sara Errani of Italy and Andrea Petkovic of Germany both won in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. Errani beat Czech qualifier Renata Voracova 6-2, 6-2, while Petkovic routed Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-0, 6-3. Errani will next face fellow Italian Roberta Vinci, who beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-4, 6-2. In first-round play, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic beat Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6
