 Federer hits the Canadian courts six weeks after his Wimbledon disappointment
Roger Federer beat Juan Ignacio Chela to reach the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto - his first match since crashing out at Wimbledon in June. Federer edged the first set against the Argentine before winning 7-6 (9-7) 6-3. "It was a good match. It's normal that you're rusty after six weeks," said Federer, who suffered a shock quarter-final loss to Tomas Berdych in London. David Nalbandian and Fernando Verdasco also progressed, with Andy Murray set to play Xavier Malisse on Wednesday. Malisse of Belgium worked hard to edge out Michael Berrer 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 and set up a second-round clash with Murray, Britain's world number four, who had the luxury of a first-round bye. One of the best performances in Canada on Tuesday resulted in Argentina's Nalbandian keeping up his impressive run of form with a three-set win over 10th seed David Ferrer.  | 606: DEBATE |
The former world number three, who won his first title for 20 months in Washington on Sunday following injury problems, came through 7-5 3-6 6-3 to reach round two and extend his winning streak to seven matches. However, most eyes were on Federer, returning to action after a six-week rest, a phase during which the Swiss star hired coach Paul Annacone for a "test period" and endured his ranking slipping down to three. The 16-time Grand Slam champion, eyeing his third Rogers Cup title, came through an edgy first set tie-breaker to secure a straight-sets victory over Chela. Reflecting on his indifferent form and remaining ambitions, the 29-year-old added: "There's many things I'd like to do but I'm not going to say my career is incomplete if I don't get to it. "I'd love to win another 10 Wimbledons, another five French Opens, an Olympic gold in London, a Davis Cup and whatever - you name it." Highlights - Brilliant Berdych stuns Federer (UK only) Czech Republic player Berdych, conqueror of Federer at Wimbledon and ranked number seven, also made round three with a 6-2 6-4 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky, while 11th seed Marin Cilic fell 6-4 7-6 (7-2) to Serbia's Viktor Troicki. There were several high-profile withdrawals, with Andy Roddick citing illness, Fernando Gonzalez a calf injury and Janko Tipsarevic turning an ankle. In other matches, fifth seed Robin Soderling battled past Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-4 6-4 and ninth seed Verdasco beat Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-0 5-7 6-2. France's 11th seed Gael Monfils defeated Somdev Devvarman of India 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 and Marcos Baghdatis, who lost to Nalbandian in Sunday's Washington final, made an early exit with a 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-4) defeat by France's Jeremy Chardy.
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