Andy Murray of Great Britain has had no time to rest since winning the Olympic gold medal on Sunday.
But after doing extensive media interviews over the past few days, he was able to catch a flight to Toronto on Tuesday and played his first Rogers Cup match Wednesday.
He had an easy time of it against Italy's Flavio Cipolla, winning 6-1, 6-3 but the degree of difficulty will soar today when he takes on Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., in a third-round match.
Raonic defeated Murray in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open nearly four months ago.
"Yeah, it will be tough," Murray said after Wednesday's match, his voice and body language showing that he was still obviously tired. "He'll obviously be motivated playing in his own country. You know he's improved a lot over the last year, year and a half. He's playing really, really good tennis. Very big guy with a big game. Serves well and hits the ball very hard."
Murray has had a whirlwind schedule since defeating Roger Federer at Wimbledon in straight sets to win the gold medal. But he decided to come to the Rogers Cup to at least give it a try.
"You know, it's just not when I finished the match and played the mixed [doubles]. It doesn't end there. We just don't relax on Sunday night and Monday and then get ourselves ready to come.
"I wasn't back at home until 2:30, did press for about 21/2, three hours after the match and the next morning started again at 8 for about another three, four hours. So it was a long, busy couple of days."
He said he decided to come to Toronto to see how he felt when he arrived and had a practice on the courts. "I felt OK this morning when I practised and decided to give it a go," he said.
Murray was also adjusting from grass courts to a hard court when he played on Wednesday.
"I feel a little sore in the joints and stuff a little bit. I mean I feel tired mentally. I haven't really slept much in the last few days so that's probably catching up to me a little bit.
"But I hit the ball pretty well. After playing for eight weeks on grass pretty much, it's very different here. The ball is very quick compared with Wimbledon. It also bounces much higher. The court is much slower as well. So there are a lot of things to change."
During the second set, Murray had some problems with a sore knee.
"It's OK," he said. "Just a little sore. I haven't played a match on a hard court for four months and haven't practised on a hard court for four months, either ... on the hard courts the knees and the ankles and the hips take quite a fair pounding. I haven't had enough days to adjust to the surface, that's probably why there were a few aches and pains."
Later, top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Rogers Cup.
The 25-year-old Djokovic is trying for his third Rogers Cup championship, having won the event last year and in 2007.
