Seeds fail to flower as Rios and Hrbaty go down
Seeds fail to flower as Rios and Hrbaty go down
ST POLTEN, Austria (Agencies): Top seed Dominik Hrbaty of
Slovakia and Chile's out of sorts third seed Marcelo Rios both
exited Monday in the first round of the US$450,000 ATP tournament
here.
The 23-year-old Hrbaty, semi-finalist at the 1999 French Open,
was thrashed 6-1, 6-1 by up and coming Croat Ivan Ljubicic while
Rios at least took Italian opponent Andrea Gaudenzi to three sets
losing 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Gaudenzi, once ranked as high as 22 in the world, claimed a
rare win over Rios in an error strewn affair which the Italian
found amusing.
"I wasn't expecting to win," the 27-year-old said.
"It was a funny match because we both made a lot of unforced
errors," he added.
Rios, who has been accused of resisting arrest and assaulting
two police officers following an alleged fracas with the officers
and a taxi driver during the Masters Series Event in Rome a
fortnight ago, said he was surprised at the defeat.
"I am disappointed because I came here well prepared," the 25-
year-old former world number one said.
In Madrid, fourth seed Amy Frazier became the first big-name
casualty of the Spanish Open when she was beaten 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 by
fellow American Kristina Brandi on the rain-affected opening day
of the tournament on Monday.
Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine defeated American Jill Craybas 6-1,
4-6 6-2 in the day's only other completed match.
The top two seeds in this warm-up clay-court tournament for
the French Open are world number six Monica Seles of the U.S. and
13th-ranked Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain.
Seeding
In Paris, defending champion and world number one Gustavo
Kuerten has been named top seed for next week's French Open,
organizers said on Tuesday.
The Brazilian is top of the seedings ahead of Marat Safin,
Andre Agassi and Juan Carlos Ferrero, in line with the ATP Entry
System rankings.
Safin has been seeded second despite a mediocre year so far.
The U.S. Open champion has an 11-11 ATP Tour record and has won
just two matches on clay this season.
The women's seeds are set to be announced later on Tuesday or
on Wednesday morning, a French Tennis Federation spokesman said.
Ferrero was named fourth seed despite saying on Monday that a
groin injury which forced him out of this week's World Team Cup
could rule him out of the claycourt Grand Slam event.
"If Paris were to start today I couldn't play," Ferrero told a
news conference in Duesseldorf.
"I must get at least 80 percent better. It hurts to walk let
alone play."
Ferrero emerged as one of the favorites for the French Open
starting next Monday by winning in Rome before reaching the
Hamburg final.
He jumped to a career-high fourth in the latest ATP Entry List
rankings released on Monday.
He was in Duesseldorf for a check-up by the World Team Cup
physician on an injured muscle at the top of his right leg which
meant he could not play in the tournament, viewed as the
traditional warm-up for Roland Garros.
"I don't know if I can play in Paris. I'll see how things
develop on Wednesday or Thursday," he added.
Ferrero is the claycourt form player so far this year with
three titles on the surface -- Estoril, Barcelona and Rome --
plus his final showing in Hamburg last week.
Ferrero nudged American Pete Sampras down into fifth place in
the Roland Garros seedings.
Men's seeds
1. Gustavo Kuerten (Bra)
2. Marat Safin (Rus)
3. Andre Agassi (USA)
4. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa)
5. Pete Sampras (USA)
6. Lleyton Hewitt (Aus)
7. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus)
8. Pat Rafter (Aus)
9. Magnus Norman (Swe)
10. Sebastien Grosjean (Fra)
11. Tim Henman (Gbr)
12. Arnaud Clement (Fra)
13. Alex Corretja (Spa)
14. Thomas Enqvist (Swe)
15. Jan-Michael Gambill (USA)
16. Franco Squillari (Arg)