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Two-time champion Roger Federer confidently began his quest to reclaim the Miami title, taking 67 minutes to defeat Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match on Saturday at the Sony Ericsson Open.

The World No. 1 converted on each of his break point chances in the two sets, while saving the seven opportunities earned by Monfils in the second set to post his 20th straight win over a Frenchman. He last lost to a French player in April 2005, defeated by Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals of Masters Series Monte-Carlo.

"I think I really served well when I had to tonight," said Federer, who next confronts Swede Robin Soderling, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka. "I think it really came down to the big points. Those are the ones I had to win and did, so I'm very pleased."

The Swiss captured consecutive Miami titles in 2005-06, but could not complete the three-peat last year when he lost to Argentine Guillermo Canas in a third set tie-break in the fourth round. Last week in Indian Wells, Federer came up short of reclaiming his title when he lost to American Mardy Fish in the semifinals.

American Andy Roddick narrowly escaped with the victory in his second round match against Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki, while another former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt lost in straight sets to Argentine Jose Acasuso (pictured).

Roddick, the No. 6 seed and 2004 Miami champion, saved all five break chances he faced in the decisive set to prevail 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes.

He said about the crucial third game of the set: "I was fortunate to get out of that one. But to my credit, a couple of breakpoints we played long points and there were rallies, and I didn't play myself out of them by making an error. I kind of stayed the course. I was fortunate to get to that game. But after I got through that game, I felt like the match was mine to take."

The 22-year-old Troicki was making his ATP Masters Series debut and was attempting to become the second qualifier in as many days to post a win over a Top 10 player; South African Kevin Anderson had upset World No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.

Hewitt dropped serve just once in his match against Acasuso, but still succumbed 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 53 minutes. He had a chance to send the match to a third set, but could not convert on his two set points.

The 27-year-old Aussie, who has recently been struggling with a hip strain, said: "I didn't feel my footwork was great today, and that's what lost me the match, I think. I just wasn't quite able to twist my body the way that I would have liked to. You know, I wasn't able to run down as many balls as I would have wanted to, especially against a guy like that."

Fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Croatian wild card Mario Ancic both secured their spots in the third round as each prevailed in a third set tie-break. Davydenko saved one match point to defeat Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) in two hours and 40 minutes, and Ancic ousted No. 13 seed Andy Murray 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(7) in two hours and 29 minutes after saving two match points.

"It was the first time on tour that I've lost a match when I've had match points, so that's pretty disappointing," said Murray, who defeated Ancic earlier this year in the Marseille final. "But, I mean, I didn't serve well the whole match, so I probably wasn't feeling as confident as I normally would at that stage."

Last week in Indian Wells, former World No. 7 Ancic had failed to convert on his two match points against Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero and lost in a third set tie-break.

World No. 5 David Ferrer became the fourth player of the top eight seeds to fall in second round action, as he was defeated by Swede Thomas Johansson 6-4, 7-5. In addition to Djokovic, No. 7 David Nalbandian and No. 8 Richard Gasquet lost on Friday.

Friday: Qualifier Anderson Upsets Defending Champ Djokovic
Friday: Nadal Advances to Third Round
Thursday: Monfils Rallies to Defeat Isner
Thursday: Reynolds Upsets Safin; Russian Struggles Continue
Wednesday: Querrey Advances Along With Teenagers Cilic, del Potro
Wednesday: Fans Favorite Kuerten Falls in Opener