THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MASON, Ohio — Roger Federer shook off last week’s early-round loss in Toronto and beat Robby Ginepri 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-0 Tuesday in his first match at the Cincinnati Masters.
"I’m happy I’m back with a one-match winning streak," Federer joked. "I’m happy I could turn it around today."
Andy Roddick wasn’t so fortunate. The No. 6 seed withdrew just before his match with Philipp Kohlschreiber was to begin, citing neck and shoulder pain.
Roddick asked for the public address microphone and told spectators that he didn’t think he could get through his match, so he withdrew to allow another player to compete. Woong-Sun Jun of Korea took his place and was dispatched by Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-2.
Injuries took out two other players. Michael Llodra retired in the third set of his match with 11th-seeded Richard Gasquet because of an arm injury. Nicolas Kiefer was down a set to Gilles Simon when he pulled out due to a foot injury.
Ginepri was 0-4 against the top-ranked Federer going into the match, but pressured him through two sets. Federer then wore him down, and Ginepri began missing with his first serve. The American said he had trouble breathing and had a stomach ache — which he chalked up to nerves that got worse as the match progressed.
"I was feeling a little under par at the end of the first set and just could never kind of rebound back from it. Just kind of got caught up in the match, the situation," Ginepri said. "My body was kind of freezing up, tightening up a little bit. Could never really fully relax out there. It was tough running around and having trouble breathing out there."
The US$2.6 million ATP Western & Southern Financial Group Masters is Federer’s second tournament since having his Wimbledon title streak broken by second-ranked Rafael Nadal. A week ago, Federer was ousted from the Toronto Masters in the second round, and his No. 1 ranking would have been in danger if that had happened again this week.
Nadal could still overtake Federer if he wins the Cincinnati title and Federer loses before the semifinals.
"If he gets it, he deserves it. He’s been No. 2 for a long, long time," Federer said. "He hasn’t made it yet, you know. I’m still hanging in there, and I hope I can now get on a roll after this match today."
Federer said he could tell that Ginepri was in distress.
"He had trouble breathing or whatever. It was actually throughout the second set, whereas I had absolutely no problem," Federer said. "I really hoped, because I was on top of him all the way through the second set, that I would get that crucial break and then I could sort of race away with it.
"I knew if I could just turn it around a little bit, things would swing my way. Obviously, once I was back on even terms, you know, he let his head hang a little bit. Obviously, he was feeling even more tired. I took advantage of it, which was nice for me."
On centre court just before Federer’s match, Carlos Moya beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Tenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat Victor Estrella, the first player from the Dominican Republic to play in an ATP tournament, 6-3, 7-5, and 16th seeded Ivo Karlovic beat Jose Acasuso 6-3, 7-6 (3). Robin Soderling eliminated 12th-seeded Tommy Robredo 7-6 (6), 6-3.
In other matches, Florent Serra rallied to beat Benjamin Becker 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Arnaud Clement defeated Thomas Johansson 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-3; John Isner knocked off Andrea Stoppini 7-6 (2), 6-3; and Nicolas Lapentti eliminated Marin Cilic 7-6 (5), 6-2.