Nalbandian out of Toronto Masters

Third seed Argentine David Nalbandian went out of the Toronto Masters in the first round on Monday when he was beaten 6-1 6-2 by grey-haired Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

The burly Nalbandian was completely outclassed by the 33-year-old qualifier, who needed just 58 minutes to collect his first win in three attempts on Canadian hard courts.

In other first-round action, fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia eased past Spain's Nicolas Almagro 7-5 6-1 and fifth seed James Blake needed just 56 minutes to crush the hopes of home town favourite 17-year-old Canadian Philip Bester 6-4 6-1.

In contrast, Argentina's Jose Acasuso needed more than two hours and an epic second set tie-break to beat Germany's Bjorn Phau 7-5 7-6 (20-18).

The tie-break equalled the longest on the ATP Tour record books.

It marks the fifth time a singles tie-break had gone the record distance first reached by Bjorn Borg and Premjit Nall at Wimbledon in 1973.

Sanguinetti had just three career wins over top 10 opponents and the 24-year-old Nalbandian - currently a career-high number three in the world rankings - represents the biggest scalp claimed by a man who spent last week playing at a Challenger event in Recanati, Italy.

"I was relaxed," the 68th-ranked Sanguinetti told reporters.

"If I lose, it's not a shame to lose to the number three in the world. I was surprised by the score but I think I made him play my game.

"I love it. I love to see the old man can still win against the young guys."

The Argentine attributed his early exit to a fever that he said left him short of energy.

"I had a fever but I wanted to try and play," said the South American. "I said to myself that I would give it a go.

"I tried to compete but I didn't have the energy today."