Frederic Niemeyer scores upset before home crowd in Montreal; Canadian gets Federer next

Canada’s Frederic Niemeyer advances in Montreal

MONTREAL —Frederic Niemeyer, a Canadian ranked No. 487, enjoyed an upset before a home crowd Monday by defeating Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Rogers Cup.

Niemeyer will not have long to enjoy his victory over his No. 39-ranked opponent. He next faces Roger Federer, who will be playing his first match since winning Wimbledon on July 6.

“It will be an honor to play Roger in front of this crowd,” said Niemeyer, a 33-year-old Quebecer playing his final season of professional tennis. “He’s the greatest player of all time, so to finish against him will be special. Or to beat him.”

Federer has been off the tour to attend to the July 23 birth of his twin daughters. Niemeyer lost to the top-ranked Swiss 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in 1998.

“I also played a tournament when my daughter was 2 weeks, and I didn’t sleep very much that week,” Niemeyer said. “He has two (kids), so hopefully he doesn’t sleep at all.”

Niemeyer rallied to make it 5-5 in the first set and was up 40-love when he hit his left knee with his racket on an overhead volley.

“I was like, ‘Please, don’t end like this,’” he said. “The pain was very sharp at first, but it slowly went away.”

Niemeyer recovered to go up 6-5 and closed out the set 7-5. He surrendered only 15 points and lost only one game in the second set.

“In previous years, I was trying to impress or trying to prove too much or trying to play too well,” he said. “But I actually never played too well here.”

In another first-round match, Croatia’s Marin Cilic failed to take advantage of his booming serve and lost to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

The 6-foot-6 Cilic, seeded 14th, made only 50 percent of his first serves. This was the second straight hardcourt tournament that Cilic did not win a match. He lost to No. 153 Somdev Devvarman of India in Washington last week.

Germany’s Rainer Schuettler defeated Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-0. Schuettler will face seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France in the second round.

Russia’s Igor Andreev advanced when countryman Dmitry Tursonov quit with the score 5-5 in the first set because of an injured left ankle.