Federer fires warning shot

Roger Federer reminded the tennis world of his destructive power with a 6-2,6-1 rout of German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Monte Carlo Masters second round on Tuesday.

All the talk in the build-up to the first mens claycourt tournament of the year had been about the in-form Novak Djokovic and his recent domination of world number one Rafael Nadal,but 16-times Grand Slam champion Federer took the chance to lay down a marker and show he is not yet a spent force. Federer has long battled an inferiority complex on clay despite his 2009 French Open title but there was no sign of nerves against the hapless German apart from a mini-wobble late in the first set.

Nadal starts his quest for a record seventh straight title here when he takes on Finlands Jarkko Nieminen in the second round. Djokovic has skipped the event because of a minor knee injury. Earlier,Frenchman Gilles Simon warmed up the home crowd with a 6-3,6-2 first-round win over Brazils Thomaz Bellucci and Spains Feliciano Lopez beat Serb Janko Tipsarevic 4-6,6-3,7-6.