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COMMACK (New York), Aug 21: Unheralded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu posted what he called the biggest win of his career here Tuesday, ousting third-seeded Pete Sampras from the second round of the Hamlet Cup.
Mathieu, 20, downed the 13-time Grand Slam champion 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, holding on for the victory after the American saved two match points in the second set.
For Sampras, it was a disappointing warm-up for the US Open, which starts Monday in New York.
Last year’s runner-up here, Sampras has not reached the quarterfinals of an event since appearing in the final of the US men’s Clay Court Championships in May in Houston and has not won a title since Wimbledon 2000.
Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding);
First round: Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) beat Andre Sa (Brazil) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Vincent Spadea (US) beat Magnus Norman (Sweden) 6-4, 6-3; Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) 6-1, 6-3; Jan-Michael Gambill (US) beat Julien Boutter (France) 7-5, 6-4; Mardy Fish (US) beat Oliver Rochus (Belgium) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Nicolas Massu (Chile) beat Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Second round: Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat 3-Pete Sampras (US) 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4; 4-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) beat Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 5-Alex Corretja (Spain) beat Adrian Voinea (Romania) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 7-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat Jeff Morrison (US) 6-4, 6-3; Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) beat Mariano Zabaleta (Spain) 6-4, 6-4; Alberto Martin (Spain) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
NEW HAVEN (Connecticut): Top seed Venus Williams began the defence of her New Haven Open title with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory over Meghann Shaughnessy Tuesday.
It was a good day for the higher ranked players as there were also wins for second seed Lindsay Davenport, sixth seed Amelie Mauresmo and seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova.
Davenport dismissed Iroda Tulyaganova 6-4, 7-6, Mauresmo followed up her win at the Canadian Open by beating Tatiana Panova 6-2, 6-2 and Hantuchova overcame qualifier Jennifer Hopkins 6-3, 6-4.
Tuesday’s results:
First round: 6-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Tatiana Panova (Russia) 6-2, 6-2; 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Jennifer Hopkins (US) 6-3, 6-4; Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat Conchita Martinez (Spain) 6-1, 6-4; Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Marta Marrero (Spain) 6-4, 6-1.
Second round: 1-Venus Williams (US) beat Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 6-2, 6-4; 2-Lindsay Davenport (US) beat Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzbekistan) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Laura Granville (US) beat Angelika Roesch (Germany) 7-5, 6-2.—AFP/Reuters
