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Malisse books second-round clash with Andy Murray

Xavier Malisse did not drop a single point on his first serve in the second set against Michael Berrer © Getty Images

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Xavier Malisse will provide Andy Murray's second-round opponent in the Rogers Cup after the Belgian overcame Michael Berrer on Tuesday.

Murray received a bye in the opening round after winning last year's tournament, and he now knows he will begin his defence against the in-form Malisse. Should Murray survive the test, he stands to face a difficult run to the final including matches against Robin Soderling, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Ranked 52 in the world, Malisse is in excellent form after he reached the semi-finals of the Legg Mason Classic, eventually losing to Marcos Baghdatis. Faced with the German challenge of Michael Berrer in Toronto, Malisse came through a tough tie-breaker before wrapping up a 7-6(2) 6-2 victory.

The two players' stats were nearly identical in all areas during the first set, with Malisse matching Berrer's first-serve percentage, equalling the German's one break chance, and edging the aces count 5-3. Malisse won just eight more points than his rival in the set, but five of those crucially came in the tie-breaker.

Clearly deflated, Berrer instantly chucked away his serve at the start of the second set, and Malisse began to return with conviction. Assuming a rapid 4-1 advantage, Malisse converted both break points created and did not drop a single point on his first serve to close out victory in an hour and 21 minutes.

The winner of Malisse v Murray is likely to meet Robin Soderling after the Swede recovered from a one-set deficit to beat Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-4 6-4. There was just one break per set as the two big-servers stood toe-to-toe, with Soderling eventually advancing after firing down 12 aces.

World No.3 Roger Federer defeated a fellow veteran of the circuit, Juan Ignacio Chela, in a straight-forward fashion in their second round match. Increasingly using the tactic of coming in to the net, Federer edged a close first set before dropping just two points on his serve in the second to win 7-6 6-3.

It took the 29-year-old's career record to 5-0 over Chela, although this was their first meeting in four years. Federer will next face the winner of Michael Llodra and Nicolas Almagro.

Also in the second round, seventh-seed Tomas Berdych enjoyed an easy 6-2 6-4 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky.

David Nalbandian emerged victorious from the standout clash of the first round, beating No. 10 seed David Ferrer 7-5 3-6 6-3. Nalbandian claimed his first title for 18 months at the Legg Mason Classic last week, and he brought that form to Toronto.

In a closely fought encounter, Nalbandian displayed his greater suitability to the hard courts by overpowering Ferrer, using that exceptional backhand to hit some fantastic angles. Ferrer won exactly the same number of points in the match, but too often he was on the back foot against his Argentinian opponent.

The man Nalbandian beat in last week's final, Marcos Baghdatis, will not go past the first stage in Toronto after suffering a 7-5 2-6 7-6(4) defeat to Jeremy Chardy. In a match of 28 aces, Baghdatis broke his opponent on four occasions and won more points but still ended up out of the competition.

Croatian No. 11 seed Marin Cilic was a significant first-round casualty on Tuesday after he crashed out 6-4 7-6(2) to the always dangerous Viktor Troicki. Cilic, so heavily reliant upon his serve, lost the aces battle 11-7 against Troicki, and he also threw in eight double faults. The world No. 13 still had chances in the match, creating more break points than his rival, but it was Troicki who grabbed the only break of the contest.

Ninth-seed Fernando Verdasco came through a three-set test against Edward Schwank, getting up 6-0 5-7 6-2, while No.16 seed Sam Querrey had to come from beind in his 3-6 6-1 6-4 win over Michael Russell.

Veteran Czech player Radek Stepanek failed to make it out of the first round, losing 6-2 6-4 to Italy's Fabio Fognini, and he was swiftly joined by Philipp Petzschner, who lost 1-6 6-2 7-6(4) to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. Qualifier Yen Hsun-Lu progressed with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Pierre-Ludovic Duclos.

Michael Llodra, Gael Monfils and Philipp Kohlschreiber were other first-round winners.

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