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TORONTO — There will be no rematch of the epic Wimbledon battle between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup.
The world's top-ranked tennis player, Roger Federer, left a rain-weary crowd in shock last night as unseeded young Frenchman Gilles Simon upset him 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and bounced him out of the tournament.
Federer is the first top seed in this tournament to be defeated since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.
Both Federer and Nadal were playing their first matches of the tournament yesterday. Nadal was rusty in his first game last night, but he advanced to the next round after defeating tough Canadian-born qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a shot to Jesse Levine of the U.S. at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)
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Simon is ranked No.ƒ|22 in the world after capturing his fourth ATP singles title last week in Indianapolis. Federer had never played Simon before.
At first, it appeared that Federer was going to sail through for an easy victory after trouncing Simon in the first set 6-2 in only about half an hour. But then things changed. Federer completely wilted in the final set and appeared uncharacteristically on edge.
Why?
"Missed opportunities," a wan Federer said afterward. Federer said he had all the tools to put Simon away and should have done it in two sets, but the problem was in his own game. "I don't think I served well today at all. It's tough."
He said the balls here were different from those at Wimbledon, where he played for almost five hours in the final match with Nadal. "I was serving 70 per cent in Wimbledon and here I'm serving 50 per cent," Federer said. "I can't serve any aces, so it's just a different type of match."
Asked whether his Wimbledon effort had drained him mentally and physically, Federer said: "You wouldn't have asked me that if I would have won, right? So I guess."
Perhaps his defeat was because this was his first match on hard court. "I couldn't sneak through maybe the way I usually can, so it hurts obviously," he said. "It hurts your momentum because I think I get through the match and I get into the tournament and start playing better. But I got caught cold."
Federer went down in a cloud of unforced errors as starry-eyed Simon was buoyed by confidence from winning a tournament last week. "I just wanted to not miss this match," Simon said. "I just wanted to fight, to play a nice match and that's what I did. I'm so proud of this."
Simon said he didn't have a particular strategy. "I was just too tired to think," he said. "I just saw the ball. I hit the ball."
He admitted it was impressive when he first entered the Centre Court to play Federer and had to pinch himself to remind himself where he was. "For me, it was the first time I didn't know what to expect," Simon said. "Even if it was not such a good match for him, he's so hard to defeat."
Nadal was also coming off a torrid Wimbledon match, too, and a rest. And yesterday, after a day of heavy rainfall, he waited four hours to start his match. Federer had no wait, starting his match against improving Simon at 7:30 p.m., as scheduled.
To pass the time during a lengthy rain delay, Nadal said he played foosball and darts while rain pelted the courts and drove the crowd inside for cover.
Both Nadal and Federer were playing their first matches of the tournament yesterday.
Nadal looked a little rusty in the first set, battling with Levine, but he eventually won 6-4. He found his feet in the second set and won 6-2.
Levine, who was born in Ottawa but holds a U.S. passport, peppered Nadal with some dangerous backhand shots and then suddenly he realized whom he was playing. "I think I was in that zone, not sure really where I was, and then I kind of came to my senses and realized that I'm playing Nadal on stadium court," he said.
With that thought came a few tingly nerves. "But I felt like I fought hard and played well and ¡K came up with some big shots at certain times," he said.
Levine, 20, admitted he was tired, after having played some tough matches just to qualify earlier in the week and having no days off. He also didn't get a chance to hit any balls before the match. On the other hand, Nadal appeared to need the match. "Not easy the first round, never," he said. "¡KIt's tough start, no?"
Levine, ranked 123rd in the world, had never played anyone of Nadal's calibre before. He's new to the ATP Masters Series this year. He has a wild card to Cincinnati next week, but is hoping he can get into the top 100, enabling him to get into other tournaments without qualifying.
