Roger Federer eased into the third round of the ATP Sony Ericsson Open, while Rafael Nadal also progressed in Miami.
Swiss matches Sampras' number of tour wins, Nadal also through
Roger Federer eased into the third round of the ATP Sony Ericsson Open in Miami with a 6-3 6-3 victory over veteran Radek Stepanek.
The triumph, earned in just 62 minutes, put the world number three level with Pete Sampras in seventh on the all-time list with 762 career wins.
"It's nice tying Pete, but he could have played for many more years," said Federer, who will face Argentine Juan Monaco next.
"He could still win some matches on tour now if he wanted to.
"It's a funny stat, but it shows how long I have been around already, how much I've won, all around the world and all the different surfaces. I've played 10, 12 solid seasons, you know.
"I've never missed big chunks of seasons. That's how you end up with so many wins, I guess."
Slow courts
The Swiss said that the Crandon Park courts are playing too slow for his liking.
"It's hard to put balls away, you have to really set it up perfectly. It reminds me slightly to clay in terms of how you can construct points. You have to really create the way you play the points.
"I wish it was a bit faster, but it is what it is. It's also a surface I can play my best tennis on, so we'll see how it goes."
Monaco booked his date with Federer with a defeat of Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine 6-4 6-7 6-4.
Top seed Rafael Nadal also safely secured a spot in the third round with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Nadal was not broken en route to the straight-sets win and will next face a clash with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who saw off Juan Ignacio Chela.
Meanwhile, defending champion Andy Roddick suffered a shock early exit as he was beaten in straight sets by Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas.
Struggling
The American, who will now drop out of the world's top 10 following the loss, appeared to be struggling physically and had medical treatment during the second set for a groin injury.
He lost the first set after being broken in the seventh game and then bowed out in the tie-break at the end of the second with consecutive forehand errors.
Cuevas' reward is a third-round clash with Frenchman Gilles Simon, who beat German Rainer Schuettler 6-4 6-3.
There was better news for Schuettler's compatriot Philipp Petzschner as he upset 10th-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3 6-4.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - the 15th seed - survived a scare to see off Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3, while Mikhail Youzhny crushed Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 6-1 6-0.
Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych dropped a set against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo but the seventh seed eventually came through to claim a 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 win.
Number 11 seed Nicolas Almagro also needed three sets to beat Frederico Gil 6-4 3-6 6-2, while 18th seed Marin Cilic was dumped out by Janko Tipsarevic after a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) defeat.
