Roger Federer returned to action just two days after his Wimbledon triumph with a superb win at the Swiss Open. The world number one had no trouble adjusting to the clay, and came through 6-1 6-1 against Tomas Behrend.
Last year, tournament organisers gave Federer a cow in recognition of his Wimbledon triumph, and this year they decided on an alphorn.
"I don't know if I can take this on the plane," he joked. "It's quite long. It would take about ten rows in economy."
In earlier matches, second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero suffered a surprise 7-6 6-4 defeat to Austria's Stefan Koubek - a player he beat at Wimbledon.
He has been struggling with injuries in recent months, losing in the second round of the French Open and the third round at Wimbledon.
Ferrero will abandon now his favoured clay for the hard courts of North America as he looks for a ranking-points boost.
"I'm not playing my best tennis," said the 24-year-old. "I cannot find my game, I'm sadly lacking confidence.
"I want to work hard for the Masters Series events in Toronto and Cincinnati. After that, my goals are to do well at the Davis Cup and the Athens Olympics."
Third seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany recovered from a poor second set to beat Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil, 6-4 1-6 6-3.
MMIX
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