Paradorn Srichaphan powered to his first clay-court victory since Roland Garros last spring, crushing Kenneth Carlsen 6-1, 6-2 to advance on Monday at the Barcelona Open.
The Thai 15th seed, beaten by Cyril Saulnier in the first round in Monte Carlo, turned his poor form on its head with the win at the Real Club de Tenis.
In Paris last year, Paradorn beat Czech Tomas Berdych before losing to former finalist Alex Corretja of Spain, his last outings on the surface prior to last week.
The top Thai's success sets up a meeting today against a young player personally schooled by Roger Federer.
Swiss Stanislav Wawrinka occasionally takes tips from the world No. 1, his frequent practise partner.
The former junior champion in Paris showed that his clay game packs a punch with a demolition of Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-1.
Federer's ad hoc guidance could serve the 20-year-old well as he plays in only his third ATP-level event of the season.
With Rafael Nadal coming off the high which marked his Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday over Guillermo Coria, the fourth-seeded teenager from Mallorca will be the focus of attention in tennis-mad Barcelona.
Nadal would draw a crowd for yesterday's doubles test alongside Feliciano Lopez and his singles campaign begins today against the winner of Spaniard Marc Lopez and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Fourth seed Nadal has marked much of his game for improvement in the run-up to Roland Garros -- fearful news for opponents.
"My objective is to improve my tennis. If I do that, I think I can win a lot of matches," the world No. 11 said.
In the absence of leading seeds with first-round byes, lesser contenders took center stage on opening day.
Swedish ninth seed Thomas Johansson won his first clay match of the season over Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-1.
Johansson, who lost in the first round a week ago at Monte Carlo, was untroubled as he earned his 13th victory of the season. He will next face Xavier Malisse, who dispatched German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-2.
As usual, the field at the home of Catalan tennis is populated by Spaniards, with nearly half the draw made up of Iberians. Locals started with 20 players in a 48-man field including five seeds.
US Clay court championships
Sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean and No. 7 Jurgen Melzer advanced to the second round of the US Clay Court Championships on Monday, while second-seeded Andre Agassi warmed up for singles action with a rare doubles appearance.
France's Grosjean defeated Bjorn Phau of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, while Austria's Melzer beat Argentina's Mariano Puerta 6-3, 6-3.
Puerta was the only player in the field with a clay-court title this season.
They were the only seeds in singles action on the opening day of the US$380,000 tournament in which Andy Roddick is the top seed.
Roddick will face a qualifier in his first-round match yesterday, while Agassi will play Czech Michal Tabara in his opener.
But fans got a glimpse of Agassi in action on Monday as he teamed with his former rival, Jim Courier, in doubles.
The pair fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to Argentina's Martin Garcia and Peru's Luis Horna.
Roddick, the top seed, won here in 2001 and 2002.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS