0
HAMBURG, May 13: Top seed Lleyton Hewitt struggled into the second round of the Hamburg Masters on Monday while Andre Agassi chose to stay away and Pete Sampras’s bid for claycourt success was again hijacked in the opening round.
Hewitt, sporting a close-crop haircut, fought off a spirited bid by wildcard Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5 6-4.
“That was tough,” he said. “I didn’t know how to pronounce his name let alone what he played like before this match.
“It is never easy to come into a situation like this - those sorts of matches are very dangerous.”
The Australian plays another German wildcard in the next round, Bjorn Phau, who beat last year’s champion Albert Portas of Spain 6-4 6-2.
Agassi picked up a fine after pulling out at the last moment citing “scheduling decisions”.
The American won last week’s Rome Masters - beating Tommy Haas in Sunday’s final at the Foro Italico 6-3 6-3 6-0 - and withdrew from the German $2.8 million event to conserve energy.
“After winning my first Masters Series event on clay I believe that I need to make scheduling decisions that address the entire year that lies ahead,” the 32-year-old said in a fax sent to organisers.
“My decision does not reflect on the tournament...it has a wonderful field and will be supported by knowledgeable and enthusiastic fans.”
Tournament director Walter Knapper said: “The field is terrific ... we have to accept Agassi’s withdrawal.”
Knapper lost another major draw card when Sampras was dumped out 6-3 6-4 by Belarussian Max Mirnyi.
Mirnyi, who beat Gustavo Kuerten in the first round here last year, brushed aside the 12th seed with the minimum of fuss.
Serve-volleying on Centre Court, Sampras found no rhythm against the hard-hitting Mirnyi and must go back to the drawing board before the French Open later this month.
“These are the sort of matches I need to win and I am not winning them,” a disappointed Sampras said.
“It is deeply frustrating and I am pretty down about the way it is going right now.”
Sampras, holder of a record 13 grand slam crowns, has not won a title of any kind since Wimbledon 2000. The French Open is the only grand slam tournament to elude him.
Results: (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Mikhael Youzhny (Russia) 6-3 2-6 6-4; Alex Corretja (Spain) beat 4-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) 6-1 6-2; 5-Tim Henman (Britain) beat Nicolas Escude (France) 6-4 6-2; Stefan Koubek (Austria) beat Anthony Dupuis (France) 7-5 6-1; 16-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-6(7-3) 6-3; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat 12-Pete Sampras (U.S.) 6-3 6-4; 1-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-5 6-4; Julien Boutter (France) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat Mark Philippoussis (Australia) 6-4 6-4; Bjorn Phau (Germany) beat Albert Portas (Spain) 6-4 6-2; Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Christian Vinck (Germany) 7-5 6-4; Alberto Martin (Spain) beat David Nalbandian (Argentina) 6-4 6-3; 15-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) beat Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 7-5 1-6 6-0
ROME: Anna Kournikova set up a second round clash with world number one Venus Williams at the Italian Open with a 6-3 6-3 win over Marta Marrero in her opening match in Rome.
“It’s definitely never easy to play against Venus,” said Kournikova, “She’s obviously a very tough player. I have nothing to lose so I’m just going to go out there, try and play my best game and see how well I can do.”
The win over Marrero will be a welcome boost for Kournikova. Now at a lowly 68 in the rankings, the Russian needed a wildcard to get into the main draw here and the victory over the Spaniard was only her second win in her last seven tournaments.
As one of the top eight seeds, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Williams received a bye into the second round.
Mary Pierce clawed her way past Swiss youngster Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian to seal a place in the second round.
Pierce, despite looking unsettled and ill-at-ease for much of the match against the feisty 18-year-old, took more than two hours to eke out a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win.
The 2000 French Open champion Pierce has been struggling with a stomach injury of late in addition to her chronic back problems, and has fallen as to 172 in the World Rankings.
She is only playing in the Tier 1 event thanks to protected ranking which allows players with long term injuries entry into events.
Away from the Court Centrale, day one of the women’s event in Rome saw a Spanish double as Virginia Ruano Pascal and Magui Serna both scored straight sets wins.
Ruano Pascal beat her countrywoman Angeles Montolio 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, while Serna took care of Italian wildcard Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-4.
Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva was the day’s other winner. She stormed past Australian Open quarter-finalist Martina Sucha 6-0 7-6 (7-4).
The day’s only upset was 10th seed Meghann Shaughnessy’s loss to Sweden’s Asa Svensson. Svensson scored a 6-3 6-3 victory over the American.
Results
First round: Anna Kournikova (Russia) beat Marta Marrero (Spain) 6-3 6-3; Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Cristina Torrens Valero (Spain) 6-3 6-4; Asa Svensson (Sweden) beat 10-Meghann Shaughnessy (United States) 6-3 6-3; Mary Pierce (France) beat Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian (Switzerland) 6-3 5-7 6-4; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) beat Angeles Montolio (Spain) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3; Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-0 7-6 (7-4); Magui Serna (Spain) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-3 6-4—Reuters
