Federer struggles to Hamburg win

Federer is after a good showing in Hamburg ahead of the French Open

Roger Federer looked far from fluent as he beat Juan Monaco 6-3 2-6 6-4 at the Hamburg Masters in his first match since splitting with coach Tony Roche.

The world number one suffered a shock defeat in Rome last week and has struggled to reproduce his best form.

"I haven't played that great in recent weeks," he said. "I just need to get back into match grove, pick up as many wins as I can before the French Open."

Rafael Nadal made it 78 wins on clay when he beat Oscar Hernandez 7-5 6-1.

The Spaniard goes on to play Russia's Igor Andreev, the last man to beat him on clay, back in April 2005 in Valencia.

It was a hard-fought win but maybe that was just what I needed Roger Federer

"The fact that it was Andreev who beat me in Valencia doesn't make it anything special," said Nadal.

"But he's a very good player with an unbelievable forehand and it's going to be a tough match. I just hope the sun comes out."

Federer, who needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, had to save five break points in his first service game in the deciding set before eking out a break for 5-4.

The top seed eventually clinched victory over his Argentine opponent in one hour 56 minutes to improve his record on clay this year to 6-2.

"It was a hard-fought win but maybe that was just what I needed," said Federer.

The Swiss star will now face Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Marat Safin in straight sets.

In other action, Carlos Moya rallied to upset 10th seed Tomas Berdych 3-6 7-5 7-6 and 16th seed Lleyton Hewitt defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 7-6.