monte carlo, april 23: 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.

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. 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.

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 and looked shaky on his serve early.