MONTE CARLO (Monaco), April 24: Roger Federer was two points from an embarrassing exit from the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday before rallying to beat Spanish qualifier Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 to reach the third round.

The world number one, who failed to retain his Australian Open crown earlier this year, was 5-4 and 30-15 down in the third set before his opponent, ranked 137th by the ATP, crumbled under the pressure.Federer had already recovered from being 5-1 down after a string of unforced errors brought him to the brink of defeat.

He eventually won the tiebreak 7-1, wrapping it up after two hours and three minutes on his first match point when Ramirez Hidalgo sent a forehand wide.

Second-seeded claycourt king Rafael Nadal, bidding for a fourth consecutive title in the principality, never let Mario Ancic into their match, powering to a 6-0, 6-3 win over the Croatian in 75 minutes.

The muscular Spaniard won the first eight games before dropping serve but took the last three games for a routine victory.

“I played very well in the first set but then at 2-0 in the second, I played badly. But for a first match on clay, it was a very good match,” Nadal told reporters.

He next faces compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3, while Federer meets Frenchman Gael Monfils, who beat Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-1.

Federer took a one-sided first set in 31 minutes but Ramirez Hidalgo opened 4-0 lead in the second, hung on to it and trapped his opponent into a decider.

The Swiss fell 4-0 behind again but this time Ramirez Hidalgo struggled to handle the pressure and Federer fought his way to victory despite having made 55 unforced errors.

“I felt a bit slow out there. He played so badly in the first set that he almost faked me out,” Federer told reporters. “But when he served for the match it became tough on him.

“I’m disappointed by the way I played but tomorrow is a new match, a new day, a new opponent. And so far, it’s six matches and six wins on clay so I’m happy.”

There was no scare for Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer, who eased past former world number one Marat Safin 6-2, 6-3 to set up a third-round encounter with Serb Janko Tipsarevic, a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 winner over Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.

Safin’s compatriot Nikolay Davydenko, seeded fourth, held off a late challenge by Italian Simone Bolelli to go through 6-2, 7-6.

“I practised for two hours yesterday and I was OK,” said Davydenko, who retired from last week’s Estoril Open final against Federer with a leg injury.

Davydenko will take on German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat his compatriot Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-4.

France’s Richard Gasquet, who suffered back pain after Tuesday’s training, was back to his best in a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing of Belgian qualifier Kristof Vliegen.

The seventh seed will face Sam Querrey for a quarter-final spot after the American beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-1, 7-5.

Russia’s Igor Andreev and Nicolas Almagro of Spain will meet in the third round after they benefited from the retirements of Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Argentine Juan Monaco respectively.

Argentine sixth seed David Nalbandian beat Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-3 and will take on Spaniard Tommy Robredo after the 12th seed overcame Swede Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-6.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round:

12-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Robin Soderling (Sweden) 6-4, 7-6(3); 7-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-1, 6-2; 6-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-4, 6-3; 13-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-3, 6-3; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Mario Ancic (Croatia) 6-0, 6-3; Nicolas Almagro (Spain) bt 11-Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-2, 3-0 (Monaco retired); Sam Querrey (US) bt Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-1, 7-5; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spain) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1); Igor Andreev (Russia) bt 8-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-3 (Youzhny retired); 16-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-2, 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4; Gael Monfils (France) bt 15-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6(8), 6-1; 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-2, 7-6(5); 5-David Ferrer (Spain) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 6-2, 6-3.—Reuters