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Djokovic, who has won three Italian titles overall, took care
of 35-year-old French qualifier Stephane Robert 7-5, 7-5.
Nadal, seeded fifth, defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3,
and Murray, ranked No. 3 in the world and seeded second, downed
qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-3 while never losing his
serve in the match.
In a second-round match, third-seeded Roger Federer made it past
19-year-old Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5 in 90 minutes.
Federer pulled out of the Madrid Open last week with back pain
but was sharp against the 44th-ranked Zverev.
"I'm happy I was able to play a full match without any
setbacks," Federer said. "I'm coming off a brutal last few
months, and I'm just happy to be able to play normal tennis to
some extent. So, for me it's a big day and huge step in the
right direction."
Among the men's seeds knocked out of the tournament was No. 10
Milos Raonic, who lost to Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (5), 6-3.
On the women's wide, Eugenie Bouchard reached the third round
with a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 upset of second-seeded Angelique Kerber,
the Australian Open champion.
Unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu took down No. 4 Victoria Azarenka
6-3, 6-2, Johanna Konta eliminated U.S. Open runner-up and
seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-4, and Daria Gavrilova
ousted sixth-seeded Simona Halep 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Other upsets included No. 10 Lucie Safarova losing to Misaki Doi
6-3, 7-5 and No. 13 Ana Ivanovic falling 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-1 to
Christina McHale.
Azarenka has been dealing with a back injury that forced her to
withdraw from the Madrid Open a week ago.
"I thought I was OK and was ready to play and came back, so I'm
just disappointed," Azarenka said. "It's just unfortunate that I
can't play my best tennis."
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