Briton Andy Murray and Juan-Carlos Ferrero of Spain got off to winning starts at the ATP Marseille Open on Tuesday, advancing to the second round in straight sets.
Fourth seed Murray beat Dutch qualifier Jesse Huta Galung 6-4, 6-4, in 72 minutes and was later joined by former world No. 1 Ferrero, seeded fifth, who eliminated South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik 6-4, 6-1 in 88 minutes.
The 20-year-old Scot's last outing was a hugely-disappointing four sets loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the first round of the Australian Open on Jan. 14.
PHOTO: AFP
That defeat was put into some perspective by Tsonga's subsequent charge into his first Grand Slam final in Melbourne where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Murray opted not to play in Britain's Davis Cup tie away to Argentina last week citing an injury, but he was widely criticized, even by his brother Jamie.
He looked rusty early on against 190th-ranked Galung as both players struggled on serve, but after pocketing that he looked firmly in control and will next play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who came through a tough three setter against homeboy Sebastien Grosjean.
PHOTO: EPA
Murray holds a 1-2 record against Wawrinka, the player he beat to capture his fourth ATP title in Doha last month.
World No. 15 Ferrero, meanwhile, achieved his fourth win against 46th-ranked Lee in five meetings and will play Nicolas Mahut in the second round after the Frenchman saw off Russian qualifier Michail Elgin 6-3, 6-3.
Another seed progressed in the shape of Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot sixth seed ousting Frenchmen Arnaud Clement in straight sets.
PHOTO: EPA
■ DELRAY BEACH
AP, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
Eighth-seeded Mardy Fish sat out a six-hour rain delay before completing his win over Marco Crugnola of Italy 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday.
Fish capably took advantage of four of seven break points in the match, winning all but the sixth game in the first set, and from 5-4 in the second set won the final three games.
"It's not fun. But I've played in a lot of windy conditions, practiced in a lot of windy conditions growing up around here. I've seen even worse than this, but it's really windy," he said.
Rain interrupted play at the International Tennis Championships with only five of the 11 matches on the schedule being completed.
Top-seeded James Blake made a brief foray to the court, but was rained out after winning his serve in the fifth game of the first set for a 3-2 lead over fellow American Robert Kendrick.
Earlier in the day, 129th-ranked Gilles Muller won his first ATP-level match of the year in a tough 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over wild-card recipient Jessie Levine, who lives in nearby Boca Raton.
Muller, 24, has had some success on the tour. He has posted some significant upsets including a win over Andre Agassi en route to the Washington final in 2004.
He also had a first-round win over Andy Roddick in three tiebreaker sets at the 2005 US Open. Those results have put a lot of pressure on Muller, who has been training in South Florida during the past six months.
■ BRASIL OPEN
AP, COSTA DO SAUIPE
Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten lost for the second time in as many days at the Brasil Open on Tuesday, playing his last match as a professional in his home country.
The three-time French Open champ lost 7-5, 6-1 to Argentina's Carlos Berlocq in a first-round match at this seaside resort in northeastern Brazil.
On Monday, Kuerten and countryman Andre Baran lost 6-3, 6-3 to Italy's Fabio Fognini and Filippo Volandri in doubles.
The 31-year-old Kuerten, who was ranked No. 1 in December 2000, but hasn't won a title since 2004, announced last month he will retire from professional tennis after the French Open, which starts on May 26 in Paris.
"It's sad to see your career come to an end," said a teary-eyed Kuerten, who has struggled with a chronic hip injury. "I tried. I played a good first set, but afterward I just didn't have any strength left in me. I have lived many great moments and this is one of them. But I can no longer play. I'm sorry but I can't."
Earlier in the day, former world No. 3 Guillermo Coria defeated Italian qualifier Francesco Aldi 6-4, 7-5.
It was his first ATP victory in 19 months.
"This is the happiest day in my career," Coria said. "After nearly 20 months, I finally managed to win. I know I did not play well, but I won, and that is the most important thing."
■ DIAMOND GAMES
AP, ANTWERP, BELGIUM
Agnes Szavay's celebrations of her first top-20 ranking were cut short when she lost to Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-3 in the Diamond Games first round on Tuesday.
Szavay, the sixth seed from Hungary, earned her career-high ranking of 18th by reaching the final of the Open Gaz de France on Sunday. But she became the first top-20 victim for Kleybanova, who is ranked 106th.
The only other seed in action also lost, No. 8 Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine to Julie Ditty of the US 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Ditty saved all five break points she faced in the last set for her first win over a top-50 player.
Karin Knapp of Italy was first through to the quarter-finals, beating Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 from 6-3, 3-1 down in their second-round match.
Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden overwhelmed Meilen Tu of the US 6-1, 6-2 to set up a second-round match against No. 2 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, the Open Gaz de France champion.
Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova beat Luxembourg's Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-1 to line up a match with top-ranked Justine Henin, who is set to open her first WTA tournament on home soil in five years today. More than 13,000 fans have bought a ticket for the session.
Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also won their first-rounders.
Meanwhile, organizers said they kicked out three spectators on Monday for betting on a match online from the stands.
The trio was seen betting on points in real time from their laptops and were asked to leave, organizers said. No further action was taken.
■ CACHANTUN CUP
AP, VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy defeated Greta Arn of Hungary 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Cachantun Cup on Tuesday.
Pennetta lost her serve twice but was helped by Arn, who committed seven double faults.
Sixth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy and No. 7 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia also won their first-round matches.
France have lodged a protest with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) over a dope-testing irregularity by the Chinese team during their Fed Cup tie in Beijing earlier this month.
■ FED CUP
AFP. PARIS
France's Fed Cup captain Georges Goven said that one of the Chinese quartet -- Peng Shuai -- did not attend the obligatory dope-testing on the first evening of the match which China eventually won 3-2.
Instead she chose to leave for Paris, where she played in last week's WTA tournament.
"Did she undergo drug-testing when she arrived in Paris, that's just one of the questions I have," he said.
The ITF was believed to be looking into the matter.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
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