Federer tops Tsonga in Rome opener

Roger Federer opened his campaign at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wednesday night. "I always expect tough matches and as I said before the game -- I knew he’s dangerous and he serves well," said Federer. "Perhaps conditions were a little bit slow and I was able to play a clean match from start to finish, so it was a good match and I was pleased."

The World No. 3 broke Tsonga three times, while the Frenchman was unable to convert any of his seven break point opportunities. Federer’s win increases his head-to-head lead to 4-1 over Tsonga, and it was their first meeting on clay, after the two played their first four matches on hard courts.

The Swiss moves on to play 16th-seeded Richard Gasquet in a third-round clash. Gasquet has dropped just eight games in his first two matches and is looking to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season (Indian Wells). "I am excited to play Richard because he’s a great player and we had a good match against each other in Dubai, so I am looking forward to playing [him] on clay," Federer said. "I need to be very focused is and smart with a good game plan and we’ll see how it goes."

Date: 12.05.2011, Source: ATP