The third-ranked Federer allowed Chela back into the first set, before prevailing in the tiebreaker. He was not as generous in the second, which lasted 34 minutes.

Federer, seeking his third Rogers Cup title, was playing his first match since losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon to Tomas Berdych. He had largely withdrawn from the sport after his early exit, going on vacation, seeing his ranking slip from to No. 3 and then hiring a coach.

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“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,” Federer said. “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.”

Federer won the Canadian tournament in 2004, and then again two years later. He improved to 23 wins from 29 matches in his career in Canada.

“I thought it was a good match, overall,” he said. “It’s always nice to come back after six weeks and get the win. I think that’s what counts the most tonight. It’s normal that you’re a bit rusty after six weeks.”

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal plays his first match in the singles draw Wednesday.

The tournament lost one big name on Tuesday when American Andy Roddick withdrew with an undisclosed illness. The eighth seed will be replaced by France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu.

After losing in straight sets in the third round at Washington last week, Roddick said he “didn’t feel right physically.”

In the other second-round match, fifth-seeded Robin Soderling survived a scare to emerge with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Ernests Gulbis.

In first-round matches, Argentina’s David Nalbandian scraped to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over 10th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, No. 9 Fernando Verdasco beat Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 and No. 15 Gael Monfils of France beat India’s Somdev Devvarman 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Serbia’s Viktor Troicki upset 11th-seeded Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (2).
 
Sharapova outlasts Kuznetsova  in Cincinnati

Maria Sharapova battled to a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory over in-form Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.

While the 10th seeded Sharapova was successful on her Cincinnati debut, top seed Jelena Jankovic opened the defense of her crown with a familiar taste of victory at the venue, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 second round win over Russia’s Vera Dushevina.

Kuznetsova arrived fresh off a victory in San Diego on Sunday and her first round clash against Sharapova did not disappoint as a contest between two multi-grand slam winners returning to form.

Sharapova, winner of three grand slams including the 2006 US Open, broke Kuznetsova in the ninth game of the opening set to take early control of their match.

But Kuznetsova, the first Russian to win the US Open with her victory in 2004, roared back into the match by sweeping through the second set in just 30 minutes.

“I let her off the hook in the beginning of the second set, and she went with it. Against a player with a lot of experience, you can’t do that,” Sharapova told reporters.

In the third, former world No. 1  Sharapova once again benefited from her never-say-die approach by taking the initiative and surging 3-0 ahead before she broke Kuznetsova a second time in the decider to close out the match.

Other first round winners included, 11th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who breezed past China’s Zheng Jie 6-4, 6-2, while 12th seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium dumped Hungarian qualifier Greta Arn 6-2, 6-2.

Wildcard Christina McHale will carry American hopes into the next round, advancing when 15th seed Nadia Petrova was forced to retire because of heat illness while trailing 7-6, 5-3.

McHale’s teenage compatriot Melanie Oudin, who became the darling of last year’s US Open by reaching the quarter-finals, will have a little more time to prepare for Flushing Meadow this year after losing 6-2, 6-3 to Russia’s Elena Vesnina.

“I’m hoping the hype won’t be that bad this year, but I have a feeling it’s going to be,” Oudin told reporters after her first round exit. “People are going to expect I can do it again.

“But this year I’m going to go into it just like last year. No expectations.”

Sixteenth seeded Frenchwoman and 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli was the first player to reach the third round when she overcame Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 7-6, 6-1.