Roger Federer had not played a tournament since the US Open, minus a few matches for Davis Cup.  Well-rested, he headed into Basel as three time defending champ, made it to the finals, where he lost in 3 sets to Novak Djokovic.

Then, he came to Paris, had his first round bye, and faced mostly unheralded, Julien Benneteau.  Although Benneteau played well, Federer loses as he tends to these days–by making too many errors.

Benneteau beat Roger Federer: 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Rafael Nadal’s opening round was similarly precarious.  Playing fellow Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro, Nadal found himself down a set, and 6-5, 40-0 down, with three match points on Almagro’s serve.  Nadal won the next 3 points before Almagro managed a fourth, then eventually a fifth match point.  Nadal eventually beat this threat back, won the tiebreak, and took the third set, 7-5.

Andy Murray also struggled, requiring 3 sets to beat James Blake: 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4).

Murray did not fare so well in his following round match against Radek Stepanek, a match he lost in three sets: 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal is similarly working hard.  He and another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, have split sets today with Nadal taking the first set 6-3, and Robredo taking the second set by a similar score.  It suggests that Nadal isn’t quite 100% yet.

Robin Soderling gave his slim hopes of making the ATP World Tour Finals a boost by beating Nikolay Davydenko in three sets: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.  Perhaps Soderling’s flatter style gives Davydenko less time to hit his strokes, compared to Nadal who loops his shots more.  Soderling showed that he still has a mental edge over the higher ranked Davydenko.

About the only top player that seems to be hitting his stride is 2009 Basel winner, Novak Djokovic.  He beat Juan Monaco in the 2nd round, 6-3,7-5, then in the third round, he toyed with French veteran, Arnaud Clement, in a decisive, 6-2, 6-2 defeat.

There is some speculation that these early losses are possibly due to tanking, to provide additional rest to prepare for the ATP World Tour finals to be held in London in a week and a few days.

EDIT: Rafael Nadal was again in danger of losing to a Spaniard, this time Tommy Robredo.  Robredo was up 5-4, serving for the match, when he failed to hold, nerves doing him in.  Nadal held and broke again to win the third set, 7-5.