<p>The towering 6-foot-10 Croat, who beat Roger Federer on his way to the semifinals last year, won the deciding tie-break 7-2 to advance to the second round after two hours and 10 minutes. <br /><br />Former world number one Marat Safin, who is set to retire at the end of the year, eased past American Robby Ginepri 7-5, 7-6, while seeds Gilles Simon of France and Croatia's Marin Cilic also claimed first-round wins. <br /><br />Ninth seed Simon eased past American wildcard Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-2 and will now play Russian Igor Andreev, who beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-1, 7-5. <br /><br />Croatia's 14th seed Cilic beat another former world number one in Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4, and will play another Spaniard in David Ferrer, who prevailed 7-5, 6-2 over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. <br /><br />Jose Acasuso of Argentina set up a second-round meeting with world number one Federer by beating Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-3, but 15th seed Tommy Robredo of Spain fell 6-3, 7-5 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. <br /><br />World number six Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, beaten in the final of the Montreal Masters by Briton Andy Murray on Sunday, withdrew from the tournament citing fatigue.<br /><br />Sharapova sizzles<br /><br />In Toronto, Russian Maria Sharapova signalled she might be close to a return to top form by dismissing 10th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the $2 million Toronto Cup.<br /><br />It was rough opening day for the French on the Canadian hardcourts with 13th seed Marion Bartoli and 15th seed Amelie Mauresmo both bowing out. Bartoli lost 6-4, 6-3 to Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko. <br /><br />Twice champion Mauresmo displayed plenty of rust in falling 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to 27th-ranked Italian Francesca Schiavone. Fourteenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland stopped Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />Reuters</p>
<p>The towering 6-foot-10 Croat, who beat Roger Federer on his way to the semifinals last year, won the deciding tie-break 7-2 to advance to the second round after two hours and 10 minutes. <br /><br />Former world number one Marat Safin, who is set to retire at the end of the year, eased past American Robby Ginepri 7-5, 7-6, while seeds Gilles Simon of France and Croatia's Marin Cilic also claimed first-round wins. <br /><br />Ninth seed Simon eased past American wildcard Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-2 and will now play Russian Igor Andreev, who beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-1, 7-5. <br /><br />Croatia's 14th seed Cilic beat another former world number one in Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4, and will play another Spaniard in David Ferrer, who prevailed 7-5, 6-2 over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. <br /><br />Jose Acasuso of Argentina set up a second-round meeting with world number one Federer by beating Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-3, but 15th seed Tommy Robredo of Spain fell 6-3, 7-5 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. <br /><br />World number six Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, beaten in the final of the Montreal Masters by Briton Andy Murray on Sunday, withdrew from the tournament citing fatigue.<br /><br />Sharapova sizzles<br /><br />In Toronto, Russian Maria Sharapova signalled she might be close to a return to top form by dismissing 10th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the $2 million Toronto Cup.<br /><br />It was rough opening day for the French on the Canadian hardcourts with 13th seed Marion Bartoli and 15th seed Amelie Mauresmo both bowing out. Bartoli lost 6-4, 6-3 to Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko. <br /><br />Twice champion Mauresmo displayed plenty of rust in falling 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to 27th-ranked Italian Francesca Schiavone. Fourteenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland stopped Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />Reuters</p>
