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| Grand Slam winners Ferrero, Federer start strong in Montreal
MONTREAL, Canada, Aug 5 (AFP) - Reigning Grand Slam champions Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer stormed to success in season-opening hardcourt matches Tuesday to reach the second round of the 2.45-million-dollar Montreal Masters. Spain's second seed Ferrero, the French Open winner, made his summer debut on cement, dominating Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 6-4, 6-4 while Wimbledon champion Roger Federer followed suit as he returned to tennis after three weeks off. BizVantage – When knowing counts: Business, Investing, Technology. The Swiss third seed got his US Open build-up off with a win as he ousted Argentine Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. But it was a close-fought affair in the late stages, with Federer trailing a break before getting it back in the eighth game of the third set. He then went through four games later with a crisp backhand cross-court winner after two hours, five minutes. The first-round victories on a muggy but dry day at the Jarry Park kept the heat on in the season Champions race, with Ferrero leading Federer by five points. "It's important and shows that I'm playing well," said the Spaniard. "I'm maintaining my level for week after week. I want to keep doing that and try to remain number one at the end of the season." Federer's win over Gaudio finally gave him a career match victory in Canada after going 0-2 at past editions. "I had a lot of unforced errors and gave some points away, but it doesn't matter now, I've won," said the Swiss. A year ago, the Swiss was devasted by the car crash death during the Canadian week of his first coach, Australian Peter Carter, in South Africa and his form suffered badly for weeks. But this season has been a dream so far for Federer, who owns a pace-setting five ATP titles and now stands 54 wins and ten losses since January. Spain's Ferrero made up for a first-round loss in Toronto in 2002 as he rolled over Saulnier, a qualifier ranked 101. The Spanish seed has not lost in the first round of a tournament since 2002 Indian Wells. "This was pretty good for a first match," said Ferrero. "I was playing well. It's not easy for me to play on these kind of courts. But I served well and that gave me confidence." Clay-bred Ferrero is not afraid of tackling the cement and reached a Canadian quarter-final here in 2001. In other first-round results, French ninth seed Sebastien Grosjean stopped Spain's Fernando Vicente 6-3, 6-3 while Roland Garros finialist Martin Verkerk, seeded 15th, defeated Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. American Vince Spadea advanced as he ousted Dutchman Raemon Sluiter 6-3, 6-4. Russian veteran Yevgeny Kafelnikov got off to a promising start with a come-back over France's Gregory Carraz 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. str/bb/dj03 Tennis-ATP-CAN
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