TORONTO, July 24: The end of Roger Federer’s long reign as world No 1 moved closer when he suffered a shock second-round defeat by Frenchman Gilles Simon at the Toronto Masters on Wednesday.

Back on court for the first time since his epic loss to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final, Federer was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and his ranking is now under serious threat from Nadal who beat American qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4 6-2.

Federer had looked ready to take out his Wimbledon disappointment on Simon when he won the first four games on the way to the opening set.

But Simon, riding the momentum from his championship win in Indianapolis on Sunday, refused to buckle, battling back to beat the 12-time Grand Slam winner and reach the third round.

It was the first time Federer had lost his opening match in a tournament since falling to Briton Andy Murray in Dubai in March.

The 22nd-ranked Simon represented a tricky opponent for the rusty Federer, who had only resumed practice four days before arriving in Toronto and received a first-round bye.

Simon, meanwhile, was well into his hardcourt campaign after claiming his fourth career win and second title of the season in Indianapolis with a straight-sets victory over Russian Dmitry Tursunov.

Nadal, also back in action for the first time since Wimbledon, struggled to find his rhythm and fell 4-1 behind in the opening set against Levine.

But once the Spaniard found his range his opponent had few answers, Nadal tearing through the next five games to take the first set and cruising to an easy victory which stretched his unbeaten run to 25 matches.

Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) bt 16-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; 9-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 6-3, 6-4; 8-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-4, 6-4; 7-James Blake (US) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2; Gilles Simon (France) bt 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4; Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); 10-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Russia) 7-5, 6-3; Robin Soderling (Sweden) bt 13-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; Igor Andreev (Russia) bt 16-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Jesse Levine (US) 6-4, 6-2; Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt 12-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3, 6-4; 5-David Ferrer (Spain) bt Robby Ginepri (US) 6-4, 6-4.

JANKOVIC BATTLES

LOS ANGELES: Top seed Jelena Jankovic overcame some early jitters before battling to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Vania King at the Los Angeles Classic on Wednesday, the Serb advancing to the third round on a day of several upsets.

Playing her first match since falling in the fourth round at Wimbledon, Jankovic staved off two set points in the 10th game against the unseeded American before taking control of the contest.

Jankovic is struggling to regain full fitness since suffering a torn meniscus in her knee during the Wimbledon defeat at the end of June, but she was able to take comfort from the fact the injury was not hurting her.

Should she go on to win the title, the Serbian will take over the world No 1 ranking from absent compatriot Ana Ivanovic.

While Jankovic was able to survive a scare and remain in the draw, three seeds went down in second round matches.

Japan’s Ai Sugiyama continued her good form with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Swiss hope Patty Schnyder, American Bethanie Mattek eased to a 6-4, 6-0 win against Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic and China’s Yuan Meng beat India’s Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-3.

The 33-year-old Sugiyama, who reached the semi-finals of last week’s Stanford Classic, never gave her seventh seeded opponent a chance to settle in an energetic encounter.

Mattek took full advantage of the 11th seeded Vaidisova’s notoriously fragile temperament as the Czech teenager lost her head in the second set and sprayed balls all over the court.

Also advancing to the third round was fourth seeded Dinara Safina of Russia, the French Open finalist eased to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over China’s Peng Shuai to join compatriot and fifth seed Vera Zvonareva, who beat American Jill Craybas 6-4, 7-6.

Eighth seeded Victoria Azarenka, No 9 Nadia Petrova, No 10 Flavia Pennetta and No 14 Sybille Bammer also moved into the next round.

Results:

Second round: Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) bt 15-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; 5-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Jill Craybas (US) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); 1-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Vania King (US) 7-5, 6-2; Yuan Meng (China) bt 16-Sania Mirza (India) 6-4, 6-3; 10-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Tamira Paszek (Austria) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4; 14-Sybille Bammer (Austria) bt Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-3, 7-5; Bethanie Mattek (US) bt 11-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-0; 8-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Chan Yung-Jan (Taiwan) 6-1, 6-3; 9-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; 4-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt Peng Shuai (China) 6-2, 6-2; Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Regina Kulikova (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; Melinda Czink (Hungary) bt Olga Savchuk (Ukraine) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt 7-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-4, 7-5; Melanie South (Britain) bt Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-2.—Reuters