MONACO: Roger Federer started his clay-court season Tuesday by dispatching Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-2, 6-1 with precise shot-making in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. The Swiss star, seeded second after Novak Djokovic's withdrawal, slammed forehand winners and performed exquisite drop shots and lobs on the run that few other players can make look so easy. “Clearly a good start for me into the clay-court season,” Federer said. “I was able to do all the things I was hoping to. I was consistent; consistently dangerous, too. I felt well in the offense, and in the defense I was fine.” He outplayed Kohlschreiber from the start, breaking his serve to begin both sets and wrapping up the win in only 50 minutes. Kohlschreiber's dejected body language showed he knew it was all over after only a handful of games. Federer, who has lost to top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the Monte Carlo final from 2006 to 2008, had Kohlschreiber scampering helplessly around center court with a mixture of shots that were beyond the German's reach. “I managed to vary the game well and not make too many mistakes,” said Federer, whose only title win this year was at the Qatar Open in January. The 16-time Grand Slam champion broke Kohlschreiber twice in each set, saved the only break point he faced with an ace, and sealed victory with his fifth ace of the match to improve to 6-0 against the German. Federer, who trained with Kohlschreiber last summer, has only ever lost one set to him — in a tiebreaker at Wimbledon two years ago. Federer clinched the opening set when Kohlschreiber sent a forehand long. Against the backdrop of the glittering Mediterranean sea, his play continued to sparkle in the second set. He hit a lob on the run from the back of the court, then sprinted to the net to retrieve the return and flick a winner that wrong-footed Kohlschreiber in the sixth game. Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was also in good form, beating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-2, 6-3 to set up a third-round match against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia. The former third-ranked Ljubicic advanced after beating 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6 (2), 6-4, while big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic downed Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 7-5. Tsonga, who is playing without a coach since splitting from Eric Winogradsky, rued his missed chances. The 20-year-old Raonic was relieved to get through after squandering three straight match points when leading 5-4 in the second set. Nadal starts his clay-court season Wednesday with a second-round match against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. In first-round action, 16th-seeded Gilles Simon of France beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-3, 6-2, Feliciano Lopez of Spain rallied to beat Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina downed Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Fabio Fognini of Italy, Guillermo Garica-Lopez, Albert Montanes and Pere Riba of Spain also advanced to the second round.
