Federer to face Canas, Gasquet shocked by qualifier

NO BIG BOOM: Richard Gasquet failed to justify his ninth seed billing at Rome Masters.

The tournament

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Rome: Roger Federer's first match at the Rome Masters will come against one of the top-ranked player's nemeses - Guillermo Canas.

Canas rallied past Italian wild card Gianluca Naso 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-2 on Monday to set up a meeting with Federer, who had a first-round bye.

"I have nothing to lose," Canas said. "I'll try my best and even that might not be enough."

The tournament began with an upset when ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet lost to Peruvian qualifier Luis Horna 6-4, 6-1 in the first match on center court.

Also, Steve Darcis beat former No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6 (5) to set up a meeting with current No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

Mardy Fish held off Michael Llodra 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2) and will now face Andy Roddick in all-American matchup.

No. 13 Juan Monaco dispatched Pablo Cuevas 6-0, 6-4 and No. 16 Andy Murray advanced when Juan Martin Del Potro retired with the Scot leading 5-7, 6-4, 1-0.

Also, Stanislas Wawrinka eliminated two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1.

Canas has won three of his five meetings with Federer, including two straight in Masters Series events early last year upon the Argentine's return from a 15-month doping ban.

Federer got some measure of revenge by routing Canas 6-0, 6-3 in the Madrid Masters in October, and the pair have not played since.

All five of Federer's matches with Canas have came on hard courts. They have never met on clay, the surface of choice at the Foro Italico.

Federer leads a field featuring the top nine players in the rankings, including three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal.

Nadal is off to another perfect start to the clay-court season, winning consecutive titles at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open the past two weeks.

"Right now my confidence is very high," Nadal said. "But it's going to be very tough. It's my first time playing three weeks in a row on clay. Last year there was a week between Barcelona and Rome."

The top eight seeded players have first-round byes in this tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 25.