Dutch duo surge ahead on ATP tour

Dutch duo surge ahead on ATP tour

JAKARTA (JP): The solid Dutch pair of Jacco Eltingh and Paul
Haarhuis have assured themselves of the top spot on the ATP Tour
World Doubles rankings to be issued tomorrow.

Eltingh and Haarhuis have reached the French Open final as the
lone top seeded survivors at the grueling two-week clay court
championships. They secured 390 additional ranking points with
their 6-3, 6-0 drubbing of the American-New Zealand team of Tommy
Ho and Brett Steven in the semifinals.

The points are adequate to oust the Australian duo Todd
Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from the top place, opening up the
race on the road to Jakarta for the ATP World Doubles
championship.

The Woodies, top seeds in Paris, made an early exit as all but
one top teams found Rolland Garros their graveyard. The Woodies'
first round defeat to Italy's Christian Brandi and Belgian Libor
Pimek was particularly shocking as the Australians had won their
last three tournaments together prior to the French Open.

Defending champions Byron Black of Zimbabwe and Jonathan Stark
of the U.S. crashed out of the second round to the eventual
Swedish finalists Nicklas Kulti and Magnus Larsson.

Also bundled out of the French Open opening rounds were third
seeds Grant Connell of Canada and American Patrick Galbraith and
last year's finalists Jan Apell and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden.

The fight for pivotal points on the road to Jakarta will
resume at the Wimbledon championships in two week's time, when
the Woodies will defend their title.

Jakarta will play host to the world doubles season-ending
tournament for the second year running. (amd)