The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Chile, Argentina take unbeatable leads

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Wednesday, May 18, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Chile, Argentina take unbeatable leads

Dusseldorf: Nicolas Massu beat France's Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4 and Fernando Gonzales beat Sebastian Grosjean 6-4, 6-4 to help Chile clinch a winning 2-0 lead over France in the Red Group of the the Arag World Team Cup here on Tuesday. Gonzales has won all his 10 singles matches in this tournament.

In another Red Group match, Argentina won both its singles matches to take a 2-0 lead over Czech Republic, with Guillermo Coria beating Jiri Novak 6-3, 7-5 and Guillermo Canas defeating Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2.

With all-win records so far, the Red Group clash between the two South American nations set to be the highlight of the eight-team tournament.

Novak proved to be a stubborn opponent in the second set before French Open runner-up Coria broke in the 11th game of the second set to secure the 77-minute victory.

Chile's Nicolas Massu could have been forgiven for being blinded by Frenchman Arnaud Clement's bright orange outfit but he kept his eye on the ball to carve out a victory.

The Results: At Dussedorf (World Team Cup): Red Group: Chile 2 France 0 (Nicolas Massu bt Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4; Fernando Gonzales bt Sebastian Grosjean 6-4, 6-4); Argentina 2 Czech Republic 0 (Guillermo Coria bt Jiri Novak 6-3, 7-5; Guillerno Canas bt Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2); Argentina bt France 2-1 (Canas & Juan Ignatio Chela lost to Arnaud Clement & Michael Llodra 1-6, 4-6). Spain bt Sweden 2-1 (Tommy Robredo & Santiago Ventura 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3).

At St. Poelten (Internationaler BTM-Power Grand Prix): Second Round: Jurgen Melzer bt Gilles Muller 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5. First Round: M. Kohlmann bt Thomas Zib 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-4; Hanescu bt Jan Hernych 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; Davide Sanguinetti bt Jiri Vanek 6-4, 6-2.

At Strasbourg (Internationaux de Strasbourg): First Round: Karolina Sprem bt Martina Sucha 7-5, 5-7, 7-5; Amy Frazier bt Claudine Schaul 6-2, 6-3; Jie Zheng bt Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-2; Vera Douchevina bt Shinobu Asagoe 6-2, 6-4; Iveta Benesova bt Sunitha Rao 6-1, 6-4; Shuai Peng bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-0l; Stephanie Cohen-Aloro bt Katarina Kachlikova 6-3, 7-6(1); Emmanuelle Gagliardi bt Lina Stanciute 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3; Anna Smashnova bt Catalina Castano 6-3; 2-6; 6-2.

At Istanbul (Istanbul Open): First Round: Ivana Abramovic bt Pemra Ozgen 6-3, 6-0; Shahar Peer bt Katerina Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2; Anna-Lena Groenefeld bt Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-3, 7-5; Elena Vesnina bt Cagla Buyukakcay 6-1, 6-2. Yuliana Fedak bt Marissa Irvin 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; Anna Chakvetadze bt Antonella Serra Zanetti 7-5, 6-2; Akiko Morigami bt Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-2; Mashona Washington bt Alyona Bondarenko 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 — Agencies

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