Sport

Curtains for Kuerten in native Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO: Gustavo Kuerten played and lost his last competitive game in his native Brazil on Tuesday going down 7-5, 6-1 to Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the first round of the Costa de Sauipe Open.

The 31-year-old three-time French Open winner has been sidelined with hip injuries over the last three years and he has already said that he is planning to retire this summer after one final appearance in Paris.

At Marseille, Andy Murray of Britain, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus won in straight sets on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Open 13.

Fourth-seeded Murray needed only 72 minutes to beat Dutch qualifier Jesse Huta Galung 6-4, 6-4 while No. 5 Ferrero landed 70 per cent of his first serves to defeat Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-4, 6-1.

Baghdatis slammed 10 aces and converted one break point in each set to overcome 2006 winner Arnaud Clement of France 6-3, 6-4.

At Antwerp, 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.

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.

The only other seed in action also lost, No 8 Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine to Julie Ditty of the United States 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.

At Delray Beach, Mardy Fish, the No. 8 seed, needed to wait out a six-hour delay before completing a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Marco Crugnola of Italy, who was making his debut appearance in an ATP tournament, at the Delray Beach International on Tuesday.

Top seed James Blake’s first-round match against fellow American Robert Kendrick was cut short by rain on Tuesday.

The results:

At Delray Beach (USA): ATP Delray Beach International: First round: Michael Russell bt Alex Bogomolov Jnr. 6-1, 6-0; Gilles Muller bt Jesse Levine 7-5, 7-6(4); Igor Kunitsyn bt Benjamin Becker 6-3, 7-6(1); Mardy Fish bt Marco Crugnola 6-1, 7-5; Max Mirnyi bt Luka Gregorc 7-6(5), 6-2.

At Costa do Sauipe (Brazil): ATP Brasil Open: First round: Eduardo Schwank bt Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-2; Guillermo Coria bt Francesco Aldi 6-4, 7-5; Nicolas Almagro bt Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-2; Ivo Minar bt Potito Starace 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Sergio Roitman bt Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-2; Oscar Hernandez bt Pablo Cuevas 7-6(5), 6-4; Olivier Patience bt Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6-3, 7-5; Peter Luczak bt Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4; Filippo Volandri bt Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-2, 6-4; Sebastian Decoud bt Jose Acasuso 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(3); Carlos Berlocq bt Gustavo Kuerten 7-5, 6-1.

At Marseille: ATP Open 13: First round: Marcos Baghdatis bt Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka bt Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Andy Murray bt Jesse Huta Galung 6-4, 6-4; Julien Benneteau bt Andrei Pavel 6-2, 1-0 retd.; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Lee Hyung-tail 6-4, 6-1; Teimuraz Gabashvili bt Michael Berrer 7-6(5), 6-4.

At Antwerp: WTA Proximus Diamond Games: Second round: Li Na bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3. First round: Ai Sugiyama bt Caroline Maes 7-5, 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-1; Alisa Kleybanova bt Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-3; Julie Ditty bt Alona Bondarenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-4;

At Viña del Mar (Chile): WTA Cachantun Cup: First round: Flavia Pennetta bt Greta Arn 6-2, 6-2; Maria Elena Camerin bt Melisa Miranda 6-3, 7-5; Kaia Kanepi bt Evgeniya Rodina 6-3, 6-4; Rossana de los Rios bt Carla Suarez 7-6(8), 6-4; Sara Errani bt Olivia Sanchez 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Nuria Llagostera bt Camille Pin 6-4, 7-6(5); Jelena Kostanic bt Bethanie Mattek 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3); Martina Muller bt Andrea Koch 6-4, 6-1. — Agencies

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