Federer bounces back after ATP upset

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CINCINNATI, Aug 16(AFP): World number one Roger Federer rebounded from a loss in the Montreal final by taking out his frustrations on France's Julien Benneteau 6- 3, 6-3 at the ATP Cincinnati Masters Wednesday.
The Swiss star, denied his 50th career title Sunday when he went down to surging Serb Novak Djokovic, pounded into the third round with a gold-standard performance.
Federer won the title two years ago but went down in a shock upset 12 months ago to Britain's Andy Murray, one of only five defeats last season for the Swiss, who will play today against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.
Baghdatis defeated Juan Chela 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-2 in another late match.
It was a day of devastation for favourites, with Spanish ace Rafael Nadal joining Djokovic on the sidelines as leading seeds crashed to upset defeats in the second round.
"It put extra pressure on men" said the Swiss after the upsets of his leading rivals. "I'm happy I'm the guy who got through. The court here is much quicker than Montreal.''
"I find this court always a struggle from the baseline. I tried to come in to the net more than usual. It was a good game plan," he added.
World number two Nadal had taken treatment for his left arm cramps at the start of the second set after losing the first. He had admitted this week he was tired after last week's exertions.
"It was stupid to continue playing because I felt I couldn't do anything. I was feeling worse and getting more dizzy. It's stupid suffering on court for nothing,'' he said.
"I couldn't grasp the racket very well. I didn't feel anything when I touched the racket," said the disheartened Spaniard. "I didn't feel very well when I went to the court. It was a tough day."
Nadal had little to say about his immediate plans but is sure to recover morale in time for the US Open starting a week from Monday.
Nadal's ouster was the tip of the iceberg for seeds with number six Fernando Gonzalez and eighth seed Richard Gasquet falling as well as Ivan Ljubicic and Mikhail Youzhny.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, a 2006 finalist, stunned Chilean Gonzalez 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) as the South American lost for the third time during this hard-court summer season without yet to post a victory.
Nicolas Almagro ousted Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4. American youngster Sam Querrey defeated Youzhny 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Lleyton Hewitt won his fifth match on the hard-courts as Gasquet retired with hand blisters to give the combative Australian a 6-1, 3-2 triumph.