Rome Masters 2016: Andy Murray and Roger Federer take ranking battle to the next round

Both players won in straight sets in the Italian capital

Andy Murray in Rome (Getty)

Andy Murray took a step towards recapturing the world No 2 ranking from Roger Federer, but the 34-year-old Swiss has bigger issues on his mind this week. While Murray was beating Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-3 in his first match here at the Rome Masters Federer was also getting off to a winning start, but said after his 6-3, 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev that his back injury was still giving him major cause for concern.

Federer pulled out of last week’s Madrid Masters because of his back problem in what is proving to be a particularly testing year. He had knee surgery in February, pulled out of the Miami Masters in March because of illness and is playing this week in only his second tournament since the end of January.

“I was expecting to lose in straight sets today,” Federer admitted after his victory over Zverev. “That was the mindset going in, so to win in straights is actually a really big surprise to me. I played cautiously. I only decided after the warm-up that I was actually going to play, so for me it was a big match on many levels.”

He added: “This was something I feel like I needed to do to get a sense of where I’m at. It would have been easy not to play and then just be unsure how I was going to feel in Paris.”

Federer, who said he did not know whether he would be fit enough to play in the third round against Dominic Thiem, is in danger of going into the French Open seriously short of matches. In his only other clay-court tournament this year he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals of last month’s Monte Carlo Masters.

Roger Federer in action in Rome (Getty)

In the circumstances it was surprising that Federer enjoyed such a comfortable victory over Zverev, a 19-year-old German regarded as one of the best of an emerging group of younger players. Federer quickly took command with an early break of serve and although the world No 44 retrieved an early break at the start of the second set he was broken again as the Swiss closed out victory after 87 minutes.

Federer replaced Murray at No 2 in the rankings on Monday, but the Scot will be favourite to reclaim the position in time for the French Open, which begins in 11 days' time. Murray would be certain to return to No 2 if he reached the final here, but there are plenty of other scenarios in which he would do so. If Federer lost in the final, for example, Murray would need only to win one more match this week to overtake him.

Being No 2 will earn more than prestige. It would also mean going to Roland Garros knowing that it would be impossible to face Novak Djokovic, the world No 1, before the final. Djokovic, who won the Madrid title on Sunday, began his defence of the title here with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over France’s Stephane Robert.

Although the sun did not shine as fiercely as it had earlier in the week, it was still warm and bright when Murray and Kukushkin entered the Grandstand stadium, which is the most recent addition to the ever-changing landscape here.

The magnificent sunken Pietrangeli court, with its marbled seating and surrounding neo-classical statues, was the main stadium when Mussolini had the Foro Italico constructed in 1932, but these days it stands at No 3 in the pecking order. The new main stadium on the site is a splendid example of modern Italian architecture, but functionality is the key to the Grandstand arena.

Murray, who was playing his first match since announcing the split with his coach Amelie Mauresmo, had won all three of his previous meetings with Kukushkin. The 28-year-old from Kazakhstan is a stylish ball-striker but lacks the weapons to trouble the very best.

The only break of serve in the first set came in the eighth game. A superb lob which hit the baseline helped Murray go to break point and he followed up with a winning forehand pass.

Murray, who had a first-round bye, broke again in the third game of the second set. The only time the Scot got into any difficulty on his serve was at 3-2. He went 15-40 down but dug himself out of trouble with some excellent serving.

When Kukushkin served at 3-5 Murray stepped into his returns to put his opponent under intense pressure. A beautifully cushioned volley took the Scot to match point and he converted it when Kukushkin netted a backhand.

Murray, who next plays France’s Jeremy Chardy, was pleased with his performance given the change in conditions from Madrid, where he lost to Djokovic in the final on a cold and damp evening.

“I did some things well today, but I will need to play better,” he said afterwards when asked if he thought he could win this tournament. “It was a good win against a guy who has probably been here a week, played three matches in these conditions and beaten some good players.”

Nick Kyrgios extended his fine run of form by beating Milos Raonic. The Australian, who is at a career-high No 20 in the world rankings, won 7-6, 6-3 to earn a third-round meeting with Rafael Nadal or Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Murray’s brother, Jamie, who could reclaim the No 1 position in the world doubles ranking this week, won his first match alongside Bruno Soares. The Scot and the Brazilian beat Thiem and Zverev 6-1, 7-6.