TORONTO: Top seed Rafael Nadal battled out a marathon tiebreaker on Wednesday to reach the Toronto Masters third round, downing Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (14/12), 6-3.
The first-set decider tied the record of the longest ever played by the Spaniard, who went the same distance in 2009 but lost 14-12 to Richard Gasquet.
The unseeded Wawrinka had five set point chances of his own which he could not convert. Nadal took the first set on his fourth chance.
"I`m pretty happy with how I played," said Nadal. "I was worried about this match, I knew it would be dangerous against Stan.
"I played well, I had a bit of everything - difficult moments in the tiebreaker and also some good play. It`s important to win the first match back just for the confidence."
Nadal is playing in his first ATP event since winning a second Wimbledon title and then watching Spain win the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
He also had physical therapy on his knee, a constant cause of worry in his career.
Nadal will line up Thursday against South African qualifier Kevin Anderson, who knocked out American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4.
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic struggled to close out his opening win in searing heat while title holder Andy Murray played it cool as he rallied for a victory over Xavier Malisse.
Djokovic required multiple match points to down Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-5, 7-5. Murray broke Malisse twice to end the first set and easily powered through to A 7-5, 6-2 victory.
Murray slowly seized control, firing seven aces and breaking his 30-year-old opponent. For Djokovic, however, it was a struggle to the end. The Serb admitted that his longstanding discomfort in hot weather again came into play.
"It was a big struggle, I was not feeling the best, But it is something I overcame.
"I was lucky to come back when I needed to," said the player whose occasional fragility has plagued him for the past few seasons. "When I needed to hit winners, I went for it instead of waiting for him to make errors.
"That was a positive that came out of this. The heat was at least 30 Celsius and the court absorbs it and makes things even hotter. I was close to the edge today."
Djokovic, winner of the 2007 Canadian title, smashed a racket in the second set before finally improving to 4-1 in his career series against Benneteau.
He was playing for the first time since leading his country into the Davis Cup semi-finals last month.
Three Frenchman won through, two through upsets.
Jeremy Chardy put out Spanish ninth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 while Michael Llodra did the same to another Iberian, number 14 Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. The 15th seed Gael Monfils beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 7-5, 6-3 to set up a match with Murray.
Russia`s world number six Nikolay Davydenko beat Italian Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-1 but Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov upset 12th seed Russian Mikhail Youzhny 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
Last week`s Washington winner David Nalbandian continued his comeback success from hip surgery and other injuries, putting out Spain`s Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-0.
BDST:1431HRS, August 12, 2010
