Former French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain outlasted Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Paris Masters.
Costa, the 2002 Roland Garros winner, broke Zabaleta at 5-5 in the third set and then served out the match after 2 hours, 27 minutes.
Costa, seeking his first title of the year, faces Madrid Masters runner-up Nicolas Massu of Chile in the second round.
In other first-round matches, Karol Beck of Slovakia defeated Robby Ginepri of the US 7-6 (5), 6-4; French qualifier Gregory Carraz downed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3); and Tim Henman of Britain beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4.
Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semifinalist, also beat Davydenko en route to winning the Washington International Series this summer -- his only title of 2003.
Henman faces Sebastien Grosjean in the next round and is looking to even the score after losing to the Frenchman in this year's Wimbledon quarterfinals.
"It's a good opportunity for revenge on his home turf," Henman said. "There's a lot more at stake for him than me, although there are not too many weaknesses in his game."
Also, Hicham Arazi of Morocco defeated French prospect Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4 and meets countryman Younes El Aynaoui in the second round.
Overcome by shaky nerves in front of the partisan crowd, the French 21-year-old conceded 35 unforced errors and made only 45 percent of his first serves.
"I played badly," Mathieu said. "I'm a very long way off my best level."
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut fared better, securing a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. He faces a daunting second-round match against top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
Seventeen-year-old Richard Gasquet of France served 18 aces but blew six match points against Gaston Gaudio of Argentina -- who eventually triumphed 1-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4.
Gasquet blitzed Gaudio in the opening set, which lasted just 21 minutes. But, badly affected by nerves, he made several unforced errors in the second-set tiebreaker and handed Gaudio a reprieve.
"I should have been more aggressive," Gasquet said.
In other matches, Victor Hanescu of Romania beat Wayne Ferreira of South Africa 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and next takes on US Open champion and No. 2 seed Andy Roddick; Thierry Ascione of France beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-0, 6-3 and meets Wimbledon champion and No. 3 seed Roger Federer; while Fabrice Santoro of France beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
James Blake of the US defeated hard-hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4. Blake, who also beat Gonzalez in last year's Paris Masters, next faces fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany.
"[Schuettler] does not give you any free points. He's one of the top players on the circuit right now," Blake said.
Also, Andrei Pavel of Romania beat Karol Kucera of Slovakia 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Despite the presence of three current Grand Slam winners, the US$2.88 million Paris event -- the ninth and final Masters tournament of the year -- has been hit hard by withdrawals.
Frenchman Arnaud Clement withdrew Monday, citing a right thigh injury. Spain's Carlos Moya, Russians Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin and Britain's Greg Rusedski all pulled out earlier with injury.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB