Federer goes down in Toronto
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer has suffered a shock defeat to Frenchman Gilles Simon in the second round of the Toronto Masters Series.
Back on court for the first time since his epic loss to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final, Federer was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. His number one ranking is now under serious threat from Nadal, who beat American qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4 6-2.
Federer, a finalist last year and a winner of the tournament in 2004 and 2006, became the first top seeded player to lose in his first match here since Australian Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.
The match started off smoothly for Federer until Simon broke his serve to go up 4-2 in the second set. Federer returned the favour and held serve to 4-4 and then 5-5, but Simon held serve in the 11th game and broke Federer in the 12th to take the set.
“The problem was my game today,” Federer said. “As the match went on I struggled a little bit to put the forehands away.”
The Swiss could lose his top ranking, which he has held since 2004, depending on Nadal’s results this week and at the upcoming Cincinnati Masters tournament.
The other Swiss player competing in Toronto, Stanislas Wawrinka, overcame Russia’s Marat Safin 6-3, 6-4.
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