Updated: 2007-08-14 09:06

CINCINNATI - Former world number one Marat Safin was dumped out in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters on Monday, beaten 6-3 7-6 by German Nicolas Kiefer.

Marat Safin from Russia reacts to losing a point to Rafael Nadal from Spain during Rogers Cup tennis action Wednesday, August 8, 2007 in Montreal.[AP]

The Russian made too many unforced errors and Kiefer, still in the early stages of his comeback after a year out with a wrist injury, took advantage.

"It was just a bad day, that's it," Safin told reporters. "I couldn't put the ball in the court at all. It wasn't really a match.

"I'm not going to kill myself and feel bad for the next month and a half. It happened, but it's not the match that I will remember for the rest of my life, so who cares. Play terribly and that's it. Life moves on."

Former U.S. Open and Australian Open champion Safin, now ranked 24th, started poorly, slipping to 5-0 down and though he got one break back, Kiefer took the set.

The German, ranked 222nd but in the tournament thanks to a protected ranking, broke to lead 2-1 in the second set but Safin gave himself hope when he broke back for 3-3 and held his serve to force a tiebreak.

The Russian then played a woeful tiebreak, double-faulting to hand Kiefer victory, 7-1.

"He's a very tough guy to play against because he puts you under a lot of pressure and he's a very strong person," Kiefer said of the Russian.

"You never know with him, but today I think I played quite good tennis and was very, very smart. I served good, that was the key to the match."

Eleventh seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia recovered from an dreadful start to beat American Amer Delic 1-6 7-6 6-3, while number 13 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia crushed Slovak Dominik Hrbaty 6-3 6-1.

Another former world number one, Carlos Moya, the winner in 2002, enjoyed a 7-6 7-6 win over Argentine David Nalbandian to set up a clash with Serb Novak Djokovic, who won the Montreal Masters on Sunday.

Moya came from 3-0 down to win the opening set but the Spaniard let slip a 4-1 lead in the second before recovering to win a second tiebreak 7-2.

Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela beat Briton Tim Henman 6-4 3-6 6-3, and Juergen Melzer of Austria, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and Finn Jarkko Nieminen all claimed first-round wins.