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| October 16, 2001 | Tuesday | Rajab 28, 1422 |
Winning start by holder Ferreira
STUTTGART (Germany) Oct 15: South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira made a winning start to the defence of his Stuttgart Masters Series title on Monday by overcoming Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-4 2-6 6-4.
Australian Mark Philippoussis, who has only just returned to competition after six months out with a knee injury, also progressed to the second round, but Spaniard Carlos Moya’s miserable run continued on the opening day of the prestigious event.
Ferreira, who beat Australian Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set thriller in last year’s final, did enough to survive his first round match but little to suggest he could become the first player to win back-to-back Stuttgart titles.
The 30-year-old, who has been struggling for form and is not seeded this year, alternated brilliant winners and clumsy mistakes in a frustrating match riddled with errors.
Ferreira started smoothly, breaking his opponent straight away before wrapping up the first set with an ace.
But he dropped serve by netting a backhand in the second game of the second set and was broken again four games later to go 5-1 down.
Hrbaty then served for the set only to be broken but he managed another break in the next game with Ferreira hitting a backhand into the net on set point.
An early break in the final set provided the platform for Ferreira’s victory, which he sealed when Hrbaty fired a return long on the first match point.
Former world number one Moya looked a shadow of the figure who captured the 1998 French Open, making another early exit by losing 4-6 6-1 6-3 to Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador — one of his best friends on the tour.
Lapentti, who now has a perfect 4-0 record against the Spaniard, triumphed when Moya sent a simple forehand volley wide on match point.
Philippoussis was made to work for a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Spanish baseliner Alberto Martin.
Fourteen of the top 15 players in the ATP Champions Race are in the southern German city for the penultimate Masters Series event of the year and the first one indoors, with only injured number four Patrick Rafter absent.
All 16 seeds in the 48-strong draw have byes into the second round and will not be in action on the purple courts of the Schleyer Halle before Tuesday.
With 100 points available to the winner, this week is a crucial one to determine which players will make it to season-ending Masters Cup starting on November 12.
Three players — Gustavo Kuerten, Andre Agassi and Hewitt — have already booked their tickets to the Sydney event.
The top seven players in the Champions Race will qualify for the Masters Cup. The eighth and final berth will go either to a 2001 Grand Slam winner who is not in the first eight but within the top 20, or to the eighth-ranked player in the Race.
Monday’s results:
First round: Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) beat Carlos Moya (Spain) 4-6 6-1 6-3; Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-3 3-6 6-3; Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-4 2-6 6-4; Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) beat Andreas Vinciguerra (Sweden) 6-3 6-2; Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) beat David Prinosil (Germany) 6-2 6-4
ZURICH: Seeds Nathalie Tauziat and Silvia Farina claimed first-round wins at the Swisscom Challenge on Sunday as defending champion Martina Hingis confirmed her withdrawal from the tournament.
Hingis will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair ankle ligaments she tore during last week’s Filderstadt Grand Prix semifinal against Lindsay Davenport.
Monday’s results: (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Barbara Schett (Austria) beat Magui Serna (Spain) 6-1 6-2 Chanda Rubin (U.S.) beat Angeles Montolio (Spain) 6-1 6-3—Reuters
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