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| June 14, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1426 |
Comfortable start by Coria
DEN BOSCH (Netherlands), June 13: Second seed Guillermo Coria made a confident start to his bid for a first grasscourt title by beating German lucky loser Lars Uebel 6-3 6-1 on Monday to reach the Ordina Open second round. The Argentine, runner-up to Frenchman Michael Llodra last year, made light of the cool, breezy conditions to set up a match with Czech Jan Hernych or Dutch wild card Dennis van Scheppingen.
“I took the opportunities I had and this gives me a lot of confidence,” said Coria, who was making his first appearance since his surprise defeat by Nikolay Davydenko in the French Open fourth round.
Coria dominated the 24-year-old Uebel, who was playing his first ATP Tour event, wrapping up the first set with an ace and breaking in the opening game of the second before easing to victory.
As one of the favourites at Roland Garros, Coria’s defeat by Davydenko was a big surprise, but the Argentine said he’d been working hard since to get ready for Wimbledon.
Defending champion Llodra won his first match since March as he edged out German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr, the world number 379, 6-3 3-6 7-6, while fifth seed Robin Soderling was among other early winners on day one.
Top seed Tommy Robredo of Spain opens his title bid later on Monday against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
In the women’s event, Martina Navratilova, who accepted a wildcard to the event as extra preparation for her doubles commitments at Wimbledon next week, gave Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg a huge scare before bowing out in the first round.
Results:
Men’s singles (first round): Guillermo Coria (ARG) bt Lars Uebel (GER) 6-3, 6-1; Robin Soderling (SWE) bt Jerome Haehnel (FRA) 7-5, 6-3; Wayne Arthurs (AUS) bt Raemon Sluiter (NED) 7-5, 6-4; Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2)
Women’s singles: Klara Koukalova (CZE ) bt Marta Domachowska (POL) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) bt Evie Dominikovic (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) bt Anna Smashnova (ISR) 6-2, 6-4
Zvonareva , Dechy win
EASTBOURNE,(England): Seeds Vera Zvonareva and Nathalie Dechy were wafted into the second round on a windy opening day at the Eastbourne WTA grasscourt tournament on Monday.
Russian Zvonareva, the fifth seed, beat Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 6-2 while Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, the number eight, made short work of Amanda Janes, one of the two British wild cards in the draw, winning 6-1 6-1 in 63 minutes.
Eastbourne, a sedate resort on England’s south coast, is known for its gentle sea breezes. On Monday, the gusts across Devonshire Park’s centre court were rather stronger and blew the sun hats from spectators’ heads as players fought to toss a straight ball.
Zvonareva and Vaidisova both struggled to hold serve in the first set of a baseline battle before the Russian broke to go 5-3 up.
Results: (first round): Vera Zvonareva (RUS ) bt Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) 6-3, 6-2; Nathalie Dechy (FRA) bt Amanda Janes (GBR) 6-1, 6-1.—Agencies
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