TENNIS WORLD

Tenth seed and 2006 finalist Richard Gasquet opened proceedings at the Rogers Masters with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win against fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra, Monday in Toronto.
Llodra leveled the match as he broke Gasquet's serve to close out the second set, and then earned two break points early in the decisive set. Gasquet saved both before securing the match in one hour and 45 minutes by converting two of his ensuing five break point chances.
World No. 12 Gasquet notched his 20th match win of the season (20-14) by defeating Llodra. Since June, he has compiled a 10-4 record highlighted by a runner-up finish in Stuttgart (l. to del Potro), quarterfinal at Queen's Club (l. to Nalbandian) and fourth round at Wimbledon (l. to Murray).
Gasquet, 22, reached the 2006 Rogers Masters final with wins over James Blake in the second round and Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals before falling to Roger Federer in three sets. Last year in Montreal, he lost in his opening match to Fernando Verdasco.
Ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka also began his week at the Rogers Masters on solid footing, defeating Italian Simone Bolelli 6-4, 7-6(4). After combining for five breaks of serve in the opening set, Wawrinka dropped just five service points and Bolelli saved all three break point chances faced to extend the second set to a tie-break.
Wawrinka, whose best previous showing in Canada was a second round exit last year (l. to Youzhny), awaits the winner between American Sam Querrey and 2000 champion Marat Safin. The 23-year-old Swiss reached his first career ATP Masters Series final in May at Rome (l. to Djokovic), a result that pushed him into the Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Three other seeded players, No. 12 Tommy Robredo (pictured at top), No. 14 Fernando Gonzalez and No. 15 Mikhail Youhzny, made their way into the second round with straight sets victories. Recent Bastad titlist Robredo defeated Canadian wild card Frederic Niemeyer 7-6(4), 6-1; Gonzalez dismissed Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-2, 6-1; and Youzhny beat Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6(1), 6-2.
Czech No. 11 seed Radek Stepanek was the only seeded player to lose in first round action, falling to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours.
Canadian No. 1 Frank Dancevic notched a quality opening win, knocking out former Top 10 player Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes to set up a second round clash with World No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic. The Niagara Falls native reached the quarterfinals last year in Montreal before falling to Rafael Nadal in three sets.
Also Monday, German Nicolas Kiefer (pictured right) defeated Indian Wells finalist Mardy Fish 7-5, 7-6(4) to advance to the second round. Kiefer is making his ninth event appearance, and is a two-time semifinalist in Canada. He defeated No. 2 Patrick Rafter in the 1999 quarterfinals before losing to Thomas Johansson, and reached the final four again in 2004 with wins over Safin, David Ferrer and No. 4 Carlos Moya (l. to Roddick).
American Robby Ginepri needed two hours to defeat World No. 22 Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while another Frenchman fared better as Nicolas Mahut withstood 15 aces from Serb Janko Tipsarevic en route to a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 victory in two hours and 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Argentine Jose Acasuso edged past Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis, 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-5.