Roger FedererWilliams sisters, Roddick advance LONDON — Roger Federer took the express route into the third round of the Olympics with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over France's Julien Benneteau in just 58 minutes on Centre Court Monday. Federer admitted he had struggled with the extra pressure of representing Switzerland at the Games after a scrappy three-set win against Alejandro Falla in the first round Saturday. But this was a far more convincing display from the world No. 1 as he took less than an hour to see off Benneteau and book a last 16 tie against Gilles Muller or Denis Istomin. After winning Wimbledon for a record equalling seventh time earlier this month, Federer is desperate to complete a career Golden Slam by winning a singles gold medal for the first time. The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who won doubles gold with compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in Beijing in 2008, has been handed a relatively easy draw at this year's Games and he was never troubled by a totally out-classed Benneteau. Federer was in total command throughout his short stay on Centre Court and a final total of 24 winners and seven aces was testimony to his dominance. Venus Williams also began her bid for a record fourth gold medal in Olympic tennis by beating Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-1. It was an impressive showing by Venus, who is unseeded and drew a tough first-round foe. Errani has won four titles this year, was the runner-up at the French Open and is ranked a career-high No. 9. But Venus was in fine form on the Wimbledon grass, where she has won five of her seven Grand Slam titles. Twenty minutes after Venus won on Court 2, younger sister Serena closed out a second-round victory on Court 1, beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-3. Serena defeated Radwanska's sister, Agnieszka, in the Wimbledon final this month. Andy Roddick quickly took to Olympic grass, winning his first-round match over Martin Klizan of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4. As a price for being unseeded, he'll face a daunting challenge in the second round: Novak Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon champion. Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania on Centre Court, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Lleyton Hewitt of Australian and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, both three-time Olympians, won their opening matches. No. 9-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, No. 13 Marin Cilic of Croatia, No. 16 Richard Gasquet of France and big-serving Milos Raonic of Canada also advanced. American Varvara Lepchenko eliminated Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-2. Their match was tied after two sets when suspended Sunday because of rain. Other major champions to advance in singles on a cool, sunny day included Kim Clijsters, Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic. The US team went 6-0, with John Isner and Varvara Lepchenko also advancing. Isner, seeded 10th, hit 15 aces and reached the third round by beating Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, 7-6 (1), 6-2. — Agencies
