Federer falls in first round at Toronto (Roundup)

Toronto - Frenchman Gilles Simon shocked Roger Federer Wednesday, handing him a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 opening-match loss at the Toronto Masters as the world's number one tennis misery continued after losing the Wimbledon title. 'I was playing like in a dream,' Simon said. 'I just saw the ball, and I hit it as hard as possible. It's so nice to play three sets like this and to win the match.' Two-and-a-half weeks after going down in five sets to Rafael Nadal at the All England Club, Federer, who received a bye in the first round, was stunned in the second by the 22nd-ranked Simon, who won Indianapolis at the weekend. Federer's long-held number one ranking is now under threat after Nadal and number three Novak Djokovic both reached the third round in straight sets. Federer was clearly rattled by the loss, in which he committed four-straight unforced errors to put Simon into a winning position as the underdog took full advantage on his first match point after two hours. 'It's important to stay positive,' the shattered Swiss star said. 'The hard-court season has just started, and we have nine months of it.' 'It's not the end of the world, but I wish I could have started better,' said Federer, a two-time Toronto winner. 'I like this event, and I've done well here. 'I've got to regroup and look forward to the Olympics and the US Open. This is really where I want to win. I have to make sure that I'm ready to.' It was the second defeat this season in an opening match for the formerly invincible Federer, who went out to Andy Murray in three sets in early March in the first round in Dubai. Simon could not believe what he had done. 'I don't know what to think,' the 23-year-old said. 'This is just unbelievable to beat Roger like this. I was really tight at the beginning, but then I had a nice sensation from the baseline. I played my tennis and fought on every point.' Second-seeded Nadal emerged victorious in his first match since winning Wimbledon, overcoming American Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-2. Players had to spend a frustrating day waiting for six hours to go on court as heavy rain soaked the event. The only match that began on time got in a mere two games before the bad weather arrived. Nadal's win was his 25th in a row dating to Rome in May as he improved to 12-2 in Canada at the event where he won his first hard-court title. Levine, born in Canada but now based in Florida, stood little chance with a 123 ranking, but the underdog gave the seed an early fright by going up a break and forcing Nadal to recover from 1-3 down. Nadal broke twice in each set to ice the win and move into Thursday's third round against Igor Andreev, who put out 16th-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. 'He started playing very well,' Nadal said. 'He was very inside the court with aggressive play and amazing shots, but after a few games, I started feeling the ball a bit better. 'It wasn't my best match obviously. ... Hopefully I'll play better tomorrow.' Four other seeds advanced with number four Nikolay Davydenko putting out German Tommy Haas 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and David Ferrer beating American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4. Seventh seed James Blake recovered to overhaul Swede Jonas Bjorkman 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. Richard Gasquet, the number 10, got another win for France as he defeated Russian Andrey Kudryavtsev 7-5, 6-3.