Second seed Lleyton Hewitt beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday, turning back the French teenager's bid for a second upset at the US$3.1 million Paris Masters in as many days.
The 18-year-old Monfils, who beat Thomas Enqvist in the first round on Monday, easily traded shots with the two-time Grand Slam winner to the delight of packed crowd at the Bercy indoor arena.
"He [Monfils] had nothing to lose and he is a great player," Hewitt said. "I knew it would be tough and he could handle the pressure."
Also Tuesday, defending champion Tim Henman cruised past Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-4 in another second-round clash.
Monfils was playing only his fifth match on the main ATP tour, following a junior career that included three Grand Slam titles and a No. 1 ranking.
"He is going to become a very, very big player in the future," said Hewitt, who is seeking his fifth ATP title of the season.
Monfils said he was surprized the match had not been "more difficult."
"I thought the score would be bad for me," he said. "I still have a lot of work to do but, in fact, the gap between him and me is not that large."
Both scored a service break and were tied in the opening set at 3-3, but Hewitt profited from a sloppy Monfils service game to lead 5-3 ahead and won the set in 37 minutes.
After another pair of breaks to open the second, Hewitt established a 3-1 lead and appeared in control of the match until Monfils broke again to even the set 3-3.
The match remained on serve to the tiebreak, when Hewitt won on two Monfils serves and led 6-3. The Australian punched his fist twice into the ground after clinching the win.
Henman, meanwhile, said he was pleased with the discipline he showed, dropping only seven points on his serve, serving five aces and never facing a break point. In contrast, he broke Paradorn three times from seven chances.
"I was relaxed and I served consistently," Henman said, adding that the fact he was already qualified for the Masters Cup in Houston without having to hit a ball "took a lot of weight off" his shoulders.
Elsewhere, Robin Soderling of Sweden rallied to beat Italian Davide Sanguinetti 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 in another second-round match.
Soderling, 20, is seeking his second ATP title of his career after winning his first at the Lyon Open last month. He next meets the winner of a second-round clash between No. 12 seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia and Frenchman Cyril Saulnier.
Romanian Andrei Pavel, the No. 11 seed and runner-up last year, reached the third round with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over American Mardy Fish. Germany's Tommy Haas overwhelmed Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-6 (1), winning the first set in just 26 minutes.
In remaining first-round matches, Feliciano Lopez of Spain served 10 aces as he downed German Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (3), 6-4, and Russian Nikolay Davydenko beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-3 in 55 minutes.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman, and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 7-6 (2), 6-1, despite playing much of the match injured.
"I came here to enjoy myself but it did not turn out that way," said the 24-year-old Llodra, who has never won a set in three visits to Bercy. "It's true that I've had a long season, but that's no excuse."
Stepanek fell to the ground after returning a routine shot midway through the opening set and lay prone for a few moments clutching his right ankle. He received treatment and returned to court with a heavy bandage, but did not appear to be seriously injured.
Another Frenchman, Arnaud Clement lost 6-3, 7-6 (4) to Croat Ivan Ljubicic, who next meets Russian Marat Safin in the second round. Sargis Sargsian of Armenia also booked his place in the next round with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Thomas Johansson of Sweden.
Bell Challenge
The tournament lost its first seed of the US$170,000 event on Tuesday when qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria beat No. 3 Mashona Washington of the US 6-0, 6-2.
"It was a day where nothing worked, a bad day," Washington said. "I couldn't put the ball where I wanted on the court."
Top seeds Mary Pierce of France and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia both have byes into the second round.
Among the other seeds to play Tuesday, Russia's Alina Jidkova defeated No. 8 Samantha Stosur of Australia, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 while No. 6 Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg downed Anca Barna of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (6).
The 27-year-old Jidkova is coming off a quarterfinal appearance last week in Linz, Austria, where she beat Serena Williams.
Elsewhere, qualifier Melanie Gloria of Montreal defeated Stephanie Foretz of France 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) in the first round, the first win by a Quebecer since the tournament started in 1993.
The 17-year-old Gloria, who reached the main draw by winning her qualifying match Monday, will face Hantuchova in the second round.
In other matches Tuesday in the Tier 3 event, American Abigail Spears defeated countrywoman Lindsay Lee-Waters 7-5, 6-3, Mariana Oliva-Diaz of Argentina beat Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-3, 6-2, Martina Sucha eliminated Melanie Marois 6-0, 7-5 and Shenay Perry of the US beat Marie-Eve Pelletier 6-1, 6-4.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS