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| October 31, 2002 | Thursday | Sha’aban 24,1423 |
Battle for champions race hots up
PARIS, Oct 30: The battle for the Champions Race top spot reconvened at the Paris Masters Tuesday as world number one Lleyton Hewitt and his only challenger, Andre Agassi, both won their second round matches.
On the day the seeds were in action for the first time, there were also wins for Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Dutchman Sjeng Schalken while Argentine David Nalbandian kept alive his unlikely quest for a place in the Masters Cup.
Agassi made hard work of his opener against Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio, eventually winning 6-4 6-7 6-4. Hewitt, on the other hand, showed no signs of the virus that kept him out of the Masters Series in Madrid, defeating Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 6-4 in little more than an hour.
Agassi, winner of the Paris Masters in 1994 and 1999, seemed to be in control of his second round match until an uncharacteristically sloppy second set tiebreak enabled his 23-year-old opponent to level.
He broke to lead 5-3 in the third set, but immediately lost his own serve before breaking again to clinch an unconvincing victory.
Nalbandian, winner of the Swiss indoor title last week, knows only the title in Bercy will clinch a place in the Masters Cup, and he stayed in contention with a 6-7 6-3 7-5 defeat of big-hitting Belarussian Max Mirnyi in a first round match.
The beaten Wimbledon finalist secured a decisive break at 5-5 in the third set to set up a clash with third seed Marat Safin.
Earlier in the day there were mixed fortunes for the French players. Nicolas Escude brushed aside Spain’s Felix Mantilla 6-2 6-1 but his doubles partner Fabrice Santoro slumped to a 6-4 6-2 defeat at the hands of 20-year-old Spaniard Tommy Robredo.—Reuters
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