Montreal - AFP
Former world number one Roger Federer eased to a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Canadian wild card Vasek Pospisil to move into the third round of the ATP Montreal Masters here on Wednesday and earn a rematch with his Wimbledon conqueror Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 30-year-old Swiss, who is beginning his warm-up for the US Open later this month, showed little sign of rustiness as he was playing for the first time since late June when he lost in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Tsonga. Federer needed 49 minutes to get on top of Pospisl in the opening set, but moved up a gear in the second to canter to victory and into a rematch with 13th seeded Tsonga, who beat Australian wild card Bernard Tomic 6-3, 7-6 (7/1). Federer only required a modest four aces and two breaks of serve and was never under pressure on his own serve against his 155th-ranked opponent. Federer, who is bidding for a third Canadian title after winning in 2004 and 2006, was joined by compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round, after the 26-year-old defeated American Michael Russell 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour. Top seed and world number one Novak Djokovic was set to make his delayed start at the event he won in 2007 after his second-round match with veteran Russian Nikolay Davydenko was called off on Tuesday due to the weather. Second seed Rafael Nadal was also due to begin his campaign with a second round clash with Croatian Ivan Dodig.