Roger Federer wins opening match in Toronto
In his first time competing in over a month, Roger Federer won his opening match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Tuesday, defeating Argentinian challenger Juan Ignacio Chela with a 7-6, 6-3 win on centre court.
With the win, Federer became the all-time match wins leader in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. Federer now has a 210-65 match record at the ATP’s premier level of tournaments. The previous record was held by American Andre Agassi who compiled a 209-73 match record.
It was Federer’s first competitive match since losing to Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Although Federer has dropped in the rankings to number three on the ATP World Tour, he has made the Roger’s Cup in Toronto his first step in trying to reclaim the number one spot. The 29-year-old also stated that there are many things he still wanted to accomplish in his career.
"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 also admitted that he is adjusting to life with the number three ranking.
"I look at what I've achieved in my career, what I still want to achieve and what I've done the last few weeks to get prepared again to hopefully get to a higher playing level," Federer said. "Rankings are what they are. You can't control them that much unless you win tournaments, and that's not what I've been doing lately."
Although Federer looked to be in control in the first set, he allowed Chela back into to it to even the set at 6-6, before Federer eventually prevailed in the tiebreaker. The second set was much different however, as this time; Federer did not take his foot off the gas pedal, winning the second set 6-3 in 34 minutes.
"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."
Federer will be trying to seek his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and his first since winning the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati last August. He is also seeking his third Rogers Cup title, having won previously in 2004 and 2006.
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