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Nieminen crushes Monaco to set up clash with Murray

Mario Ancic reacts after defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu during their first round match at the Paris Tennis Masters tournament on Monday. PHOTO: AP

Finn Jarkko Nieminen crushed Argentine Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4 at the Paris Masters Series tournament yesterday to set up a second-round match against British No. 1 Andy Murray.

Nieminen, who lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final in Basel on Sunday, took just 69 minutes to move past Monaco.

Murray, seeded 15th in the indoor event, won the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday and is one of several players fighting in Paris for the last two remaining spots at the Nov. 11 to Nov. 18 Masters Cup in Shanghai featuring the world's top eight.

On Monday, Mario Ancic rallied to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, setting up a match against 2005 champion Tomas Berdych.

The Croatian beat Mathieu for the third time in four meetings, the most recent being on Oct. 18 in the third round of the Madrid Masters.

"I was feeling pretty good on the court," Ancic said. "[Mathieu] is always hard to play against and gives you no place to hide. He's one of the toughest players for me to play against."

Ancic expects an equally tough challenge against Berdych, the No. 12 seed who was still in contention for a place in the season-ending Masters Cup. Ancic eliminated Mathieu's outside chance. The two remaining spots will be decided this week in Paris.

"I hope I can play as well as I did today," Ancic said. "It wasn't an easy draw, Mathieu and next Berdych. It won't be easy as he's playing for a place at the Masters."

Marcos Baghdatis comfortably beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of Masters Cup hopefuls.

"I played a great match," Baghdatis said. "Juan Carlos is a player with great experience. But I didn't let up on any point."

Ferrero's only double fault helped lose him the ninth game of the first set before Baghdatis served it out to love. The Spaniard was broken immediately at the start of the second set when he hit a forehand into the net, and again in the seventh game to give Baghdatis a 5-2 lead. A powerful forehand winner to finish lined him up with a second-round match against 13th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic.

Earlier, Mardy Fish of the US fired 19 aces in topping Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (7), 6-4, Andreas Seppi of Italy downed Sam Querry of the US 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, and Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-3. Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 7-5, 6-3, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia edged Vince Spadea of the US 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2), and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 6-3.

Mathieu took the opening set from Ancic with a volley, and fist-pumped as he walked back to his chair.

But Ancic broke in the fourth game of the second set and cruised from there, losing only one point on serve in the last set and closing the match with his 13th ace.

"I think the biggest difference was the serve," Ancic said. "I got more free points in the second and third sets. I went more to the back [of the court]."

Fish saved three break points in the first set and a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker with an ace.

In the second set, Fish managed the only break of the match to take control. He will next play fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain.

Querry broke Seppi in the first game of the deciding set, but Seppi broke back in the sixth and again to make it 5-3.

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva and third-seeded Julia Vakulenko won their opening matches in straight sets at the Bell Challenge on Monday.

Zvonareva defeated Catalina Castano 6-2, 6-4 to maintain a perfect 3-0 record against the Colombian, and Ukraine's Vakulenko dispatched Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios 6-2, 6-0 in their first meeting in five years.

Local hope Aleksandra Wozniak defeated American Ashley Harkleroad 6-4, 6-2 one round earlier than she did at last year's tournament where she reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus celebrated her first time in the top 50 by beating Jorgelina Cravero of Argentina 6-4, 6-3.

In the last regular WTA Tour event of the year before the season-ending, eight-women tour championship, Zvonareva had a final chance to win a singles title for a fourth straight year.

She missed four months in the middle of the year after injuring her left wrist in the semi-finals at Charleston in April. The Russian returned for the US Open and enjoyed a solid European indoor season with a semi-final and two quarter-finals.

Top-seeded Nicole Vaidisova had a similar year with a bright start ruined by a virus which forced her to miss much of the US summer hardcourt swing. She rebounded, however, with semi-finals at her last two tournaments in Zurich and Linz. Her first match in Quebec City will be against fellow Czech Renata Voracova.

Also entered, with a wild card, was Lindsay Davenport, playing her third event in her comeback since the birth of her first child. Off the tour for a year until last month, she won her first tournament back in Bali.
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