The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Federer advances, seven seeds lose

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Friday, Jul 30, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Federer advances, seven seeds lose

TORONTO, JULY 29. Top-seeded Roger Federer, defending champion Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya and Tim Henman advanced to the second round of the US$2.5 million Masters Canada and left behind seven beaten seeds on Wednesday.

Among those knocked out included 2000 champion Marat Safin, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio and runner-up Guillermo Coria, and last year's Masters Canada finalist David Nalbandian.

"The depth in the game is pretty impressive," Roddick said. "It's really, really tough these days, especially in tournaments like this where everybody is here. There aren't a lot of easy matches."

Federer beat Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-3, 7-5, finishing a match he had started on Tuesday night before rain ended play after he won the first set.

Second-seeded Roddick, fresh from winning another RCA Championships title in Indianapolis at the weekend, dispatched French qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-2 for his 50th match win of the year.

Benneteau had a 2-1 lead in the second set when he was forced to duck abruptly to avoid being hit by Roddick's passing shot. He required treatment on his neck and returned with the score tied 2-2. But he didn't have enough to match up with the hard-hitting Roddick, the second seed.

No. 9 Hewitt overcame rising Spanish talent Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, and No. 4 Moya also endured a battle in beating Fernando Verdasco 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-4 for his 14th successive win over fellow Spaniards this year.

No. 5 Henman had an easier time handling Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-1 but only evened their head-to-head record at 4-4.

Argentines exit

Zabaleta was one of four Argentines to exit. No. 3 Coria retired at 5-1 down to Luis Horna of Peru with a shoulder injury, No. 11 Gaudio's streak of four consecutive finals since his French Open success was snapped by Australian qualifier Todd Reid 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3, and No. 6 Nalbandian was upset by Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The in-form Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, twice a finalist this month, won 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(2) against 15th-seeded Safin, who was ousted in the first round along with No. 8 Rainer Schuettler, No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean, and No. 13 Nicolas Massu.

Safin was his own worst enemy. The Russian rallied from 4-1 down in the first set to take the tie-breaker 7-3 on an unreturnable serve, then was overtaken in the second set, losing the last three games from 4-3 up. In the last set, the pair forced another tie-breaker, and Kiefer ran away with it 7-2 thanks in part to soft Safin errors.

Fernando Gonzalez of Chile defeated Schuettler of Germany 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Thomas Johansson of Sweden beat Massu of Chile 6-4, 6-4.

The results:

At Toronto (ATP Tennis Masters): first round: Roger Federer bt Hicham Arazi 6-3, 7-5; Fernando Gonzalez bt Rainer Schuettler 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Thomas Johansson bt Nicolas Massu 6-4, 6-4; Vince Spadea bt Frank Dancevic 6-1, 6-4; Jiri Novak bt Jonas Bjorkman 5-7, 7-6(10), 6-0; Ivan Ljubicic bt Karol Beck 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Jurgen Melzer bt Dominik Hrbaty 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3); Gregory Carraz bt Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 7-6(3); Feliciano Lopez bt Nicolas Escude 7-6(1), 6-2; Carlos Moya bt Fernando Verdasco 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-4; Nicolas Kiefer bt Marat Safin 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(2); Frederic Niemeyer bt David Sanchez 6-1, 6-4; Todd Reid bt Gaston Gaudio 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3; Luis Horna bt Guillermo Coria 4-1, retd.; Tim Henman bt Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-1; Mikhail Youzhny bt David Nalbandian 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Lleyton Hewitt bt Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; Frederic Niemeyer bt David Sanchez 6-1, 6-4; Andy Roddick bt Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-2.

At Carlsbad (Acura Classic): second round: Conchita Martinez bt Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-4; Ai Sugiyama bt Shinobu Asagoe 6-2, 6-2; Chanda Rubin bt Jelena Kostanic 6-4, 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-2; Elena Likhovtseva bt Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-3; Marion Bartoli bt Paola Suarez 6-3, 6-0; Elena Bovina bt Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 6-4; Gisela Dulko bt Mary Pierce 6-3, 7-6(1); Alicia Molik bt Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Lindsay Davenport bt Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-0. — AP

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