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| October 11, 2001 | Thursday | Rajab 23, 1422 |
Kafelnikov and Rusedski lose in first round
VIENNA, Oct 10: Top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov tumbled out of the first round of the $800,000 CA-Trophy on Wednesday, beaten 7-6 6-3 by Czech Bohdan Ulihrach.
Kafelnikov, favourite to win the tournament after his fifth consecutive Kremlin Cup success in Moscow at the weekend, said he had not felt comfortable with the conditions in Vienna.
“It felt like we were playing with hockey pucks, the balls were that hard,” he told reporters.
“I felt fresh and I felt I was playing well enough to win another title but I was just unable to adjust to the conditions.”
“Bohdan served and I heard clearly that there was a let, but the umpire didn’t say anything,” Kafelnikov explained. “Next point Bohdan made another serve and after we had played the point out the umpire asked us to play it again, saying that the mike had been switched off.
“It shows how incompetent some of the chair umpires are. When you are having such a difficult match, sometimes a small incident like that can turn it around.”
Kafelnikov’s departure from the tournament was the latest in a series of first-round upsets for Vienna’s seeds this week following the elimination of Alex Corretja and Carlos Moya of Spain and Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.
Earlier, Britain’s Greg Rusedski slumped to defeat in just over one hour, losing 6-2 6-2 to another Czech player, Jiri Novak.
Rusedski, who won the tournament in Vienna two years ago, agreed with Kafelnikov that the conditions were not ideal, adding that despite the organisers’ attempts to speed up the hard court surfaces this year, play was still too slow.
“I played my usual indoor hard court match...but this is even slower than clay,” Rusedski told a news conference.
“I have to give credit where credit is due and Jiri did play an excellent match. He was just too good today. I gave it 100 percent and I though my attitude was very positive but that is tennis sometimes.”
Novak will next meet Germany’s Tommy Haas, who went through earlier after his first-round opponent, Frenchman Jerome Golmard, retired with a knee injury when trailing 3-0 in the opening set.
Spain’s Albert Costa battled through to the second round with a hard-fought 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory over Austrian wild card Markus Hipfl.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who notched up a surprise win over Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic at last month’s U.S. Open, struggled back from 3-4 down in the final set.
Costa will meet the winner of the match between fourth seed Roger Federer of Switzerland and lucky loser Nicolas Massu from Chile.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist knocked out number eight seed Carlos Moya of Spain 2-6 6-3 7-6.
Moya was the third seeded player to fall in the first round after Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and Spain’s Alex Corretja lost on Monday.
Qualifier Adrian Voinea of Romania also progressed to the second round on Tuesday when another Austrian wild card, Julian Knowle, retired with a calf muscle injury in the final set when trailing 4-6 6-3 3-1.
First round results:
Tommy Haas (Ger x6) bt Jerome Golmard (Fra) 3-0 retired; Jiri Novak (Cze) bt Greg Rusedski (Gbr) 6-2, 6-2; Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze) bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus x1) 7-6 (8/6), 6-3; Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Marcelo Rios (Chi) 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-2; Thomas Enqvist (Swe) bt Carlos Moya (Spa x8) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3); Adrian Voinea (Rom) bt Julian Knowle (Aus) 4-6, 6-3, 3-1 retired; Albert Costa (Spa) bt Markus Hipfl (Aut) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Roger Federer (Swi x4) bt Nicolas Massu (Chi) 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4
Lyon Grand Prix results
First round:
Xavier Malisse (Belgium) beat Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 7-6 (8-6) 6-1; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 4-6 6-4 6-3; Hicham Arazi (Morocco) beat 9-Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) 2-6 7-5 6-3—Reuters
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