Roger Federer moves into the ATP Masters Series event starting in Cincinnati, Ohio on Monday downshifting to survival mode as Rafael Nadal chips away at his world No 1 ranking.
In any other year, the top-ranked Swiss would either be coming to the steamy American Midwest as a tournament champion the prior week or aiming to fine-tune after another successful edition on the grass of Wimbledon.
But this time will be radically different, with Federer forced to fight to hold his four-year reign on the top spot as the Nadal juggernaut continues to steam through the season.
The event is the last chance for major players to boost their game before the long flight to China for the August 8 start of Beijing Olympics, to be followed by a trans-Pacific dash to the US Open just over a fortnight later.
"It's important to stay positive. The hard-court season has just started," said 12-time Grand Slam winner Federer, who was slammed in the Toronto second round by Frenchman Gilles Simon after winning the first set.
"It's the start of, what is it, nine months of hard court. It's not the end of the world, but I wish it could have started better. I've got to regroup and look forward.
"The bigger picture is the Olympic Games and the US Open. Those are the places where I want to win."
Federer gets a first-round bye at the event he has won for two of the past three editions. He awaits the winner between American Robby Ginepri and a qualifier.
The Swiss went through a heavy training session on Saturday, convinced that only practice will snap his formerly unstoppable game back into shape.
While Federer sweats, rival Nadal goes from strength to strength, reaching the weekend in Toronto after winning Wimbledon over Federer and also claiming a fourth consecutive Roland Garros crown at the Swiss ace's expense.
The confident Spaniard will take on either another qualifier or 86th-ranked Florent Serra of France, with the second seed eager to make up less than the 1,000 points that now separate him from Federer.
Nadal has little to lose at the event, exiting a year ago in the second round after a 2006 quarterfinal.
The top-16 seeding lineup echoes that of Toronto this week, with Serbian Novak Djokovic on third ahead of Russian Nikolay Davydenko and No 5 Spaniard David Ferrer.
American Andy Roddick, the No 6 who crashed to Croatian Marin Cilic in the Canadian third round, stands sixth ahead of Davis Cup teammate James Blake and Scotsman Andy Murray.
(Agencies via China Daily July 28, 2008)