Nadal, Still a Fan Favorite, Prevails in First Match Since Wimbledon MONTREAL - Homecoming aside, Jesse Levine realized he would not be much of a fan favorite when he was introduced before his opponent Wednesday in a second-round match at the Rogers Cup. The ovation he received was warm, but nothing compared with the roar that greeted Rafael Nadal at Uniprix Stadium. "I think he took the cake on that," said Levine, 25, who had played as an American professional until this year, when he declared himself a representative of Canada, the country of his birth. Nadal also took the contest, 6-2, 6-0, in his first match since losing in the first round at Wimbledon to the Belgian journeyman Steve Darcis. That was the first time Nadal had lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam event. His left knee was clearly troubling him by the end of the Darcis match. When he withdrew from a clay-court tournament in Hamburg later in July, there was speculation he would miss a second straight summer hardcourt season. "You know, Majorca is a great place to be in the summer," Nadal said, smiling, trying to play down the severity of his chronic knee problems. That said, Nadal admitted that the pounding of hardcourt tennis across August has made it difficult for him to project how fit he will be for the United States Open later this month. "It's very difficult after what happened to me last year to look that far ahead," he said. I'll go step by step, day by day, week by week. After seven weeks of inactivity, Nadal arrived in Montreal last week to begin practicing on the hardcourts. The knee was pain-free, he said, motivating him to enter the doubles draw with his Spanish countryman Pablo Andújar. "I play for practice," Nadal said. After seven weeks without playing a tournament, one match of doubles before I play singles can help. On Tuesday, Nadal may have gotten more practice than he needed when he and Andújar won their first match but needed to play a 12-10 third set to do so. But Nadal showed no ill effects in dispatching Levine on a windy day that played havoc with some of his topspin ground strokes early in the match. Once Nadal settled in, Levine was overpowered. "He was hitting the ball well and moving well," said Levine, who had played Nadal just once before. It's good to see him back on tour. He's so good for the sport - such a fan favorite. As for Levine, he has become accustomed to enjoying partisan late-summer support in New York the past few years. After making the switch to play for Canada - he was born in Ottawa and lived there until he was 14 - he joked that he might have to wear a helmet when he returns in about three weeks. "A Rough Riders helmet," he said, laughing, referring to Ottawa's professional football team. In another second-round match on Wednesday, Andy Murray also played his first match since Wimbledon, where he became the first British man to win the tournament in 77 years. Murray had to rally from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to close out Marcel Granollers of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (2). BARTOLI'S BACK In the women's Rogers Cup in Toronto, Marion Bartoli, the Wimbledon winner who had missed the previous two tournaments because of injury, defeated Lauren Davis, 6-0, 6-3. With a month off between events, Bartoli was able to head home and receive treatment for a hamstring injury she sustained at Wimbledon. "I'm just working on a daily basis to make sure I'm getting stronger and stronger on it so I don't feel the same pain as I did in Wimbledon," she said. Bartoli pointed to the opportunity to meet players from her favorite soccer club, Marseilles, as the highlight of her time after Wimbledon, and said she still enjoyed waking up next to the Venus Rosewater Dish, given to the Wimbledon winner, on her night stand. "The first day when I woke up and I got this bright light in front of me, I was like, "Yeah, this is a good view." " Part of Bartoli's resurgence can be attributed to a coaching change. In February she split from her father, Walter. "Splitting 22 years of a relationship just like that overnight, there was a lot of thoughts," she said. I've been through some really tough moments in the beginning of the year, then I was able to live the best moment of my life. Bartoli now relies on the 2006 Wimbledon winner, Amélie Mauresmo, whom she calls her mental coach. She intends to rely on Mauresmo's expertise for the rest of the season. Bartoli's Wimbledon win has left her confident and hungry for more, but she hopes it does not change her personality. I like my values. I like who I am - just simple, humble, easygoing, easy to speak to," she said. But of course, it gives me some confidence. I know I've been able to win one, so why not win more than one? But the competition is extremely tough, and I don't expect it to be easy.