By DPA
Montreal : German Nicolas Kiefer has made a spectacular comeback from a knee problem as he rallied past Russian Dmitry Tursunov 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 for a second-round place at the Montreal Masters.
The event, which began a day early in the interests of an improved box office, is the first major test of the hard-court summer with all of the top 20 men entered.
Los Angeles champion Radek Stepanek moved ahead on opening day, defeating Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-4.
Kiefer, ranked 255 after missing almost a year with a wrist problem, was unable to play an LA semi-final three weeks ago after his knee flared.
Roger Federer, a month removed from his fifth straight Wimbledon title, which he won over Rafael Nadal, heads the Montreal field, with the Swiss putting in a word for beleaguered world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko.
The Russian is being investigated as part of a potential match-fixing scandal after online betting was stopped during a match this week in Poland, where he won the opening set against Martin Vassallo Arguello before later quitting to lose 2-6, 6-3, 2-1.
Suspicions were raised after up to $7 million in wagers flowed toward the South American even after Davydenko had taken the lead. He quit with a reported foot injury.
“Davydenko doesn’t seem like the guy to do something like that,” said Federer, who is targeting a third career title in Canada after winning the alternating Masters in Toronto in 2004 and 2006.
“Stuff does get out of the locker room sometimes. I think an investigation is good, and I hope things go Nickolay’s way. It could be more problematic in tennis than other sports as the results of a match are in the player’s hands. But tennis has really had few problems compared to (other sports).”
Federer, who trained last month in the 45-degree heat of his base in Dubai, heads a field that includes almost all of the elite in men’s tennis.
Fighting for something more than the leftovers will be second seed and hot rival Nadal, winner over Andre Agassi the last time the event came to Montreal in 2005.
“I have great memories here. It’s always nice to come back to somewhere you did so well,” said the 21-year-old Spaniard. “I’d love to win here again, but I can only now focus on my training and my first match.”
Nadal had little luck with the draw, facing either Swede Robin Soderling, who stretched their Wimbledon match to five sets, or Russian Marat Safin.
Federer aims for a 50th career trophy against the winner from Croatian Ivo Karlovic and Max Mirnyi of Belarus.
Nadal leads the ATP this season with six titles – Federer has four – and a 56-8 match record.
Federer, who turns 26 Wednesday, stands 16-3 in Canada. He is playing for the second time in Montreal, where he lost a final to Andy Roddick four years ago.
Holding a 36-5 mark this season, Federer said that sitting out a month could be a problem but no more so than skipping two weeks.
“There is always some uncertainly,” said the winner of 11 Grand Slam trophies. “The first round is always tough. You can train 20 days and never feel ready. It will be interesting to see how both Rafa and I start.”
Nadal played on clay in mid-July at Stuttgart, winning that title for the second time.