Roger Federer rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (1) Wednesday in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. The 12-time Grand Slam champion, who twice came within two points of defeat on his Spanish opponent's serve, won five straight games to take a 6-5 lead before heading to the tiebreaker. “He really pushed me,” Federer said. “He made it hard for me.” Federer then won the match when the 137th-ranked Ramirez Hidalgo hit a forehand long. “In the end, at least it was fine,” Federer said. “But for one and a half sets, I was quite disappointed. Rarely am I in a situation like this, 5-1 down in the third, and I still manage to come back.” Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain advanced by beating Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-0, 6-3. The second-seeded Nadal took the first set in 22 minutes. “Starting the clay season like this always gives me more confidence,” said Nadal, who is aiming for a fourth straight French Open title. “First match on clay after a long time. So, happy about everything.” He next faces two-time champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-3. Sixth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina and No. 7 Richard Gasquet of France both won. Gasquet beat Kristof Vliegen 6-1, 6-2, while Nalbandian topped Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-3 and next meets No. 12 Tommy Robredo of Spain after he beat Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-6 (3). Eighth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny and No. 11 Juan Monaco both retired from their matches, sending Igor Andreev and Nicolas Almagro through to the next round. The struggling Federer had 55 unforced errors in the match and looked shaky on his serve early, needing to save a break point in the fifth game of the first set. But Ramirez Hidalgo's unforced errors gave Federer a chance to serve out the set at 5-1. Federer outscored Ramirez Hidalgo 14-1 in winners in the first set, but allowed him back in the match with some errant play in the second set. “My opponent played so bad in the first set that he sort of almost faked me out,” Federer said. “He couldn't serve. He was making many mistakes from the baseline. And then after that I really struggled. So I was really unhappy with my game.” After losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, Federer followed by losing to Andy Murray in the first round of the Dubai Open. Last month, the top-ranked Swiss lost to Mardy Fish in the semifinals in Indian Wells, California. “I am happy to have got through this,” said Federer, who next plays Frenchman Gael Monfils. “I lost the rhythm and I needed a bit of luck to come back into the match.” Federer reached 12 of 16 finals last year and won eight tournaments, but he needed five events to play a title decider in 2008 - his slowest start in eight years. He beat Nikolay Davydenko at the Estoril Open on Sunday when the fourth-ranked Russian withdrew. Davydenko, who withdrew from the Estoril Open final because of an injury to his left leg, beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (5). “I didn't feel any injuries,” the fourth-ranked Russian said. “My legs were OK.” Fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain, No. 16 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany and Monfils also won in straight sets. Ferrer beat two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia 6-2, 6-3; Monfils saved a set point before overcoming Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (8), 6-1; and Kohlschreiber defeated Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-2, 6-4. Janko Tipsarevic of Croatia advanced by beating Nicolas Lapentti 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4, while Sam Querrey of the United States beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-1, 7-5 and next plays Gasquet. Querrey is the first American to reach the third round since Vince Spadea in 2003. __
