Nadal, Federer easily advance at Qatar Open

QATAR: Rafael Nadal routed Fabrice Santoro 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday in his first ATP Tour match of the year, while Roger Federer and Andy Murray also breezed into the second round of the Qatar Open.

The top-ranked Nadal needed only 46 minutes for the win, breaking Santoro three times in each set. Federer advanced with similar ease, beating Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-2, while defending champion Andy Murray defeated Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-4. Federer converted four of his five breakpoints and was never in danger of losing his serve. Murray dominated Montanes from the baseline and broke his serve in the third and fifth games to take the opening set in 40 minutes. Montanes struggled with his accuracy throughout the match, committing 34 unforced errors as Murray used two more breaks in the second and will play Philip Petzschner of Germany in the next round. Murray is coming off wins against both Nadal and Federer at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week, and showed few signs of having lost his good form.