Almagro beat Murray at the French Open in their only previous meeting

Britain's Andy Murray will open the defence of his Cincinnati Masters title against Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

Almagro, the world number 33, came through his first-round tie on Monday when opponent Dudi Sela retired trailing 6-4 1-0.

New world number two Murray is set to start his campaign on Wednesday, along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn because of fatigue having lost to Murray in Sunday's Montreal final.

In Monday's first-round matches, Ivo Karlovic had too much serving power for 13th seed Gael Monfils.

The 6ft 10in Croatian won 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) to set up a tie with another Frenchman, Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Mischa Zverev 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-3.

This tournament has been tricky for me. I hope it's one of those years where I can go all the way again Roger Federer

Ninth seed Gilles Simon of France advanced to the second round with a 6-3 6-2 victory over American Wayne Odesnik, and Russia's Marat Safin beat Robby Ginepri 7-5 7-6 (7-2).

Unseeded Jeremy Chardy of France beat 15th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5, while 14th seed Marin Cilic defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-4.

Meanwhile, world number one Federer said he has had little trouble adjusting to life on tour after his wife, Mirka, gave birth to twin girls on 23 July.

After beating Andy Roddick in a marathon Wimbledon final for an unprecedented 15th Grand Slam title, Federer took some time off for fatherhood.

606: DEBATE Who will win in Cincinnati?

He was back on court last week in Montreal, where his family accompanied him. Like world number three Nadal, who had been out for two months with sore knees, he lost in the quarter-finals.

"I've been sleeping enough," said Federer. "It's not been bad like I sort of expected. But, no, things have changed in a good way. I love my life now."

The Swiss, a two-time winner in Cincinnati, is confident of impressing again this year.

"This tournament has been tricky for me," he said. "Either I won or I sort of lost early. I hope it's one of those years where I can go all the way again. I feel my game is good enough to do really well here."

Nadal continues to play down expectations after the knee problems that forced him to miss Wimbledon.

"I need to make a little bit of progress every day," said the Spaniard.

"I know with experience, if I work hard and if I can work with the normal intensity as I did in the past, I am going to have chances to be ready another time at my best level. If it's not this year, I hope next year."

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