The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Novak begins title defence with ease

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 06, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Novak begins title defence with ease

GSTAAD, JULY 5. Jiri Novak began the defence of his Swiss Open title on Monday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Argentina's Jose Acasuso in the opening round of the $544,750 clay-court event. With the victory, fourth-seeded Novak improved his record to 14-4 in Gstaad.

The Czech will be looking to make up for his performance at Wimbledon, where he lost in the opening round to Belgian Xavier Malisse in straight sets.

Novak is seeking his third title here, having already lifted the trophy in 2001 and 2003.

Spain's Albert Costa was the last player to defeat the Czech in Gstaad, downing him in the quarterfinals in 2000.

The eighth-seeded Spaniard, who is on the other side of the draw, was scheduled to play another Czech, Bohdan Ulihrach, later in the day. Costa, another two-time champion in Gstaad, has a similarly strong 16-6 record at the posh Alpine resort.

Poor weather appeared to follow Wimbledon champion Roger Federer home. Federer — who won his second straight Wimbledon title and his 24th consecutive grass-court victory on Sunday in a tournament repeatedly interrupted by rain — has returned to Switzerland, seeking his first tournament title on home soil.

The 22-year-old Swiss, the most dominant player since Pete Sampras, will face Germany's Thomas Behrend in the first round.

Monaco upsets Massu

Meanwhile at Bastad, Juan Monaco battled back from a set down to upset third-seed Nicolas Massu 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a first-round match between two South Americans at the Swedish Open on Monday.

Massu, a Chilean, was 12th on the ATP's Entry Rankings going into the Swedish Open, one of the oldest tournaments in the world.

Another Argentinian, French Open quarterfinalist Juan Ignacio Chela, had a much easier time on Court 1, beating Marc Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-0 in their first-round match.

Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, who's been sideliend since mid April because of an injury, was scheduled to make his comeback later Monday against Swedish wild-card entry Ervin Eleskovic.

The results:

At Gstaad (Swiss Open): Jiri Novak bt Jose Acasuso 6-3, 6-3; Albert Montanes bt Marco Chiudinelli 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 6-4; Victor Hanescu bt Lars Burgsmuller 7-6(4), 6-2; Albert Costa bt Bohdan Ulirach 6-4, 7-6(5).

At Bastad (Synsam Swedish Open): Juan Ignacio Chela bt Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-0; Juan Monaco bt Nicolas Massu 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Irakli Labadze bt Mathias Hellstrom 4-6, 6-0, 6-0; Robin Soderling bt Boris Pashanski 7-6 (4), 6-2. — Agencies

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