Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki lived up to expectations as both advanced with ease at the $9 million Miami WTA and ATP Masters tournament.
Nadal, on the quest for his first trophy since October in Tokyo, overpowered Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4 while Wozniacki beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 7-6 (9/7).
World number one Nadal has yet to win a Miami title, finishing runner-up in 2005 to Roger Federer and three years later to Nikolay Davydenko. His win over Nishikori followed one at Wimbledon last year.
“It was one of those first rounds you don’t want to see,” said the Spaniard.
“I’m very happy about how I played. The feeling was better than last week, so that’s important. The serve worked very well at the end of the match.”
World number three Federer notched another match win and another career milestone through a straight-sets win over Radek Stepanek. The third-seeded Swiss defeated the Czech 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round.
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych fought past Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-0. But there was no joy for Andy Roddick, who became the second Miami title holder in as many years to exit in an opening match.
The American eighth seed, who has been troubled by a low-grade illness for a month, was ambushed by Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Federer, whose 16 grand slam titles are the most in history, joined Pete Sampras on seventh in the all-time win list with 762 career victories. Jimmy Connors sets the pace in that statistic with 1,242.
“It’s nice tying Pete, but he could have played for many more years,” said Federer.
“He could still win some matches on tour now if he wanted to. It’s a funny stat, but it shows how long I have been around already, how much I’ve won, all around the world and all the different surfaces.
“I’ve played 10, 12 solid seasons, you know,” added Federer, who next faces Argentina’s Juan Monaco – a 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 winner over Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.
In women’s action, fourth seed Samantha Stosur put out Lucie Safarova 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) while sixth seed Jelena Jankovic defeated Klara Zakopalova 7-5, 6-1.
There was also an opening victory for 16th seed Maria Sharapova, a winner over German Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-0.
China’s Peng Shuai upset 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, hammering the Russian 6-3, 6-1.