A Quick Day's Work For Nadal; Tsonga, Simon To Face Off

© Getty ImagesJo-Wilfried Tsonga is making his debut at the Rogers Cup.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal made his long-awaited return in singles action Wednesday evening at the Rogers Cup, and spent all of 36 minutes on the court, advancing to the third round at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament when fellow Spaniard David Ferrer retired just seven games into the match with a knee injury.

Though Ferrer said he didn’t believe it to be a serious injury, he admitted to having problems with his knee prior to Wimbledon. “I cannot play. I prefer to relax for these few days and stand by for next week [in] Cincinnati… I want to take some time for treatment for this.”

Nadal had just gone up a break, 4-3, when Ferrer retired. Nadal had also broken his countryman to start the match, though Ferrer had gotten back on serve at 2-all after converting on his eighth break point. Nadal said: “I never expect this, this bad thing for David, so can say sorry to him and just wish him the very fast recovery to be ready for Cincinnati… And for me, it was nice [to] have a victory like this, and I say before [I’m] here to improve every day, to enjoy every game, every point.”

World No. 2 Nadal was playing in his first tournament since a fourth-round exit to Robin Soderling on 31 May at Roland Garros, and made his first appearance on court when he teamed up with Francisco Roig for a doubles win on Monday, though the two lost their second-round match the following day.

The 23-year-old Mallorcan had been sidelined the past two months with tendonitis in both knees, causing him to miss out on his Wimbledon title defence. He accordingly lost his World No. 1 ranking to Roger Federer after the Swiss won both the clay and grass-court majors.

He said about returning to tour-level action: “The first movements is tough and hard to move well and to feel confident when you are touching the ball. But that's the normal thing. I must be happy, because I didn't play terrible.  And the next round, I have another chance tomorrow to continuing to improve.  Every match, every game is important to feel better for me.”

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Nadal, a two-time Canadian champion, will next play German Philipp Petzschner, who ousted 15th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6(3), 7-6(4). Petzschner had accounted for US Open Series leader Sam Querrey in his opening match.

In contrast to Nadal, top Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was made to work hard for his place in the third round of the Rogers Cup, battling past German veteran Rainer Schuettler 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The seventh seed, who was making his tournament debut, bounced back from the opening-round exit he suffered at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. last week by prevailing in two hours and seven minutes.

Schuettler clinched the one-set lead after having broken serve in the first game, but Tsonga drew level in the match with a break of serve in the sixth game of the second set. After squandering six chances to break serve at 2-2 in the final set, Tsonga maintained his focus to break in the next Schuettler service game and close out victory in the pair’s first meeting. "Rainer played well at the start and the first set was tough for me, after that I played better," commented Tsonga.

Tsonga is looking to regain the form he produced at the start of the season, when he reached the quarter-finals or better in seven of eight tournaments – including capturing two ATP World Tour titles at Johannesburg (d. Chardy) and Marseille (d. Llodra). Since April he has struggled with a 9-7 mark and has failed to reach an ATP World Tour quarter-final since the Sony Ericsson Open (l. to Djokovic) in Miami in April.

He will confront fellow 24-year-old Frenchman Gilles Simon, the World No. 9, in the third round after his compatriot defeated Colombian Alejandro Falla 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Tsonga and Simon have split their previous two meetings, with Tsonga winning their most recent encounter this season at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Simon made an impressive run to the semi-finals last year in Canada, sparked by a second-round upset over World No. 1 Roger Federer. He later broke into the Top 10 by reaching his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Madrid (l. to Murray), and finished the year with his debut at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

World No. 3 Andy Murray will face the resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round after the Spaniard – who qualified into the main draw this week – ousted French No. 13 seed Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6(7). The two have met twice in the past two months, with Murray prevailing in the semi-finals at the AEGON Championships at London – Queen’s Club and the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

"Tomorrow I know it's going to be very tough," admitted Ferrero. "He's No. 3 in the world, so I know he's a very experienced man in these kind of matches. I learned some things at the match at Wimbledon, so I will try to get better in the next one."

After spending more than two hours on court against Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic on Tuesday night, 11th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez welcomed a shortened decision against German Tommy Haas – winning the first set 7-6(2) when his opponent retired with hand blisters. Gonzalez will need to earn his first win in five matches against No. 8 seed Nikolay Davydenko to reach the quarter-finals.