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ROME (AP) -Third-ranked Novak Djokovic showed no signs of illness Wednesday when he cruised past Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-0 in his opening match at the Rome Masters.
In the Monte Carlo Masters, Djokovic pulled out of his semifinal match against top-ranked Roger Federer after falling behind 6-3, 3-2. Tests afterward revealed he had strep throat.
"I finished with my medication yesterday," Djokovic said. "So hopefully now I'll get better in the future."
Against the 49th-ranked Darcis, Djokovic broke at love in the final game of the first set, then rolled through the second.
"I feel good. I'm satisfied with the way I played today. The first match is always tough," Djokovic said in fluent Italian. "I feel at home in Italy. I like playing here."
Two seeded players were upset in the second round.
Coming off a final appearance at the Barcelona Open, fifth-seeded David Ferrer lost to Radek Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Spanish clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro upset seventh-seeded David Nalbandian 6-4, 7-5.
Fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Croatian wild card Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-2; No. 8 James Blake held off Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1; and No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez - last year's finalist - defeated Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-2.
Later, Rafael Nadal opened his bid for a fourth straight title against 2001 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The top eight seeded players had first-round byes at the clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25.
Djokovic led 18-11 in winners and also had 18 unforced errors, with Darcis committing 31.
In January, Djokovic won the Australian Open for his first Grand Slam title.
"The Australian Open changed my life," Djokovic said. "Now I want to become No. 1 this year."
