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| November 3, 2005 | Thursday | Ramzan 29, 1426 |
Gaudio makes winning start
PARIS, Nov 2: Argentine Gaston Gaudio made a winning start to his Paris Masters campaign when he beat local favourite Fabrice Santoro 6-4 7-5 in a second-round match on Wednesday.
Seventh seed Gaudio, who has fond memories of Paris having won the French Open last year, showed more composure when it mattered to move past wildcard Santoro and stay on course for a Masters Cup slot.
Gaudio, who has won five tournaments this year and had a bye past the first round, is one of several players fighting in the French capital for the remaining two tickets to the eight-strong season finale from Nov. 13 in Shanghai.
The Argentine with the trademark baseball cap goes on to meet American Robby Ginepri, the 12th seed, who was made to work by Spaniard Fernando Verdasco before prevailing 6-3 6-7 6-3.
Swede Thomas Johansson had earlier kept alive his own Masters Cup hopes by crushing Belgian qualifier Kristof Vliegen 6-3 6-2.
The former Australian Open champion, seeded ninth, will be tested in the next round when he faces sixth-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, one of the strong players of the indoor season and also a candidate for a Masters Cup berth.
The other seeds involved in early action on Wednesday all advanced to the third round, starting with Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty, seeded 16th, who beat French lucky loser Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-3 6-3.
Spain’s Tommy Robredo, seeded 14th, also booked a place in the last 16 with a 7-5 6-2 victory over French wildcard Arnaud Clement.
Results
Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-4 7-5; David Ferrer (Spain) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-4 6-4; Thomas Johansson (Sweden) bt Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-3 6-2; Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Arnaud Clement (France) 7-5 6-2; Robby Ginepri (United States) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-3 6-7(7) 6-3; Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) bt Jean-Rene Lisnard (France) 6-3 6-3; Andy Roddick (United States) bt Taylor Dent (United States) 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 7-6(4)
7-6(4).—Reuters
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