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Novak Djokovic failed to advance far in Madrid earlier this month. Reuters

World number one Novak Djokovic bounced back from last week's shock defeat in Madrid to ease past Albert Montanes 6-2 6-3 in the second round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday.

Djokovic lost in three sets to Grigor Dimitrov at the same stage on the Madrid clay but a repeat was not on the cards in Rome once the Serb recovered from losing an early service game.

Second seed Roger Federer, who failed to get past the third round in Madrid, also hit the ground running against Italy's Potito Starace and closed out a 6-1 6-2 win in 51 minutes.

From 2-1 down, Djokovic took the first set without losing another game and broke the Spaniard early in the second.

"This win means a lot to me because I didn't have a great week in Madrid. I didn't play much, I didn't practise much," said Djokovic, who is already planning for the French Open and Wimbledon.

"I worked very hard to prepare for this tournament. I need to be emotionally and physically fit and I think I'm heading in the right direction."

Federer, beaten by Djokovic in last year's Rome semi-finals, was at his smoothest against Starace and showed no ill-effects from his shock defeat by Japan's Kei Nishikori last week.

"I was not very happy with my performance in Madrid and I had no choice but to hit the practice courts," said the Swiss who honed his serve-volley game against his Italian opponent.

Djokovic and Montanes followed Dimitrov on court in Rome after the Bulgarian's 6-4 6-4 defeat by ninth seed Richard Gasquet of France.

South Africa's Kevin Anderson removed Marin Cilic, the 11th seed, 6-3 7-6 also in the second round while 12th seed Nicolas Almagro and Tommy Haas (13th) went out in opening-round matches.

In the women's draw Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 10, and 15th seed Ana Ivanovic failed to clear the first round.

Wozniacki led 4-0 in the third set against Bojana Jovanovski and served for the match at 5-4 but her Serbian opponent, who had lost her last eight matches before this, fought back to claim the second top-10 scalp of her career.

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland took the first set in her second-round match with Romania's Simona Halep but won just three games in the next two to go down 6-7 6-1 6-2. Her sister, Urszula, had a better day, beating Ivanovic 6-3 2-6 6-2.

(Reuters - Robert Woodward)

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