Paradorn escapes upset
DUBAI, March 3:Paradorn Srichaphan bucked the trend of upsets at the $1 million Dubai Open on Wednesday when opponent Dominik Hrbaty retired during their first round match.
The Thai, seeded seventh, had been leading 4-3 when Hrbaty quit, suffering the after-effects of influenza in the heat. Hrbaty explained he had no choice but to withdraw.
In second round matches, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny followed up his victory over second seed Guillermo Coria by beating Dutch qualifier Dennis Van Scheppingen 6-4 7-5 and 17-year-old Rafael Nadal beat Olivier Rochus 6-3 7-5.
Wednesday results:
First round: Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 4-3 retired
Second round: Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Dennis Van Scheppingen (Netherlands) 6-4 7-5; Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-3 7-5.
Federer wins: Earlier on Tuesday World number one Roger Federer repeated his Australian Open final victory over Marat Safin with a 7-6 7-6 win to reach the second round of the Dubai Open on Tuesday.
First round results
Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-3 6-7 6-4; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4); Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) bt David Nalbandian (Argentina) 6-3 6-4; Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-3 7-6 (8-6); Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-4 6-3; Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 4-6; 6-3 6-4; Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-4 6-4; Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) bt Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) 6-3 6-1.
Rain interrupts
NEW YORK: American Andy Roddick will have to wait until Wednesday to complete his first round match at Scottsdale Classic in Arizona after rain interrupted his first round match on Tuesday night.
First round results
Andy Roddick (U.S.) leads John van Lottum (Netherlands) 6-3 6-5 (rain interrupted play); Martin Verkerk (Netherlands) bt Yves Allegro (Switzerland) 6-3 6-2; Robby Ginepri (U.S.) bt Tripp Phillips (U.S.) 6-2 6-0; Vincent Spadea (U.S.) bt Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-4 6-4; James Blake (U.S.) Martin Vassallo Arguello (Italy) 6-3 6-1; Cecil Mamiit (U.S.) bt Jean-Rene Lisnard (France) 6-0 4-6 6-3; Wayne Arthurs (Australia) bt Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-1 6-4; Alex Bogomolov Jr (U.S.) bt Gustavo Marcaccio (Argentina) 6-3 5-7 6-4; Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) 6-1 6-2. -Reuters