Davydenko, Ferrer progress as Frenchman blows a Gasquet

HAMBURG, Germany: Out-of-form French No 1 Richard Gasquet admits Roland Garros may come too soon for him after he was the biggest casualty of the Hamburg Masters Series here on Tuesday.

Having been runner-up here in 2005, Gasquet's poor run this year continued as the world No 9 made a second-round exit at the hands of Italy's Andreas Seppi and went down 6-3, 6-2 in just 71 minutes.

The Frenchman, seeded eighth here, became the only seed to fall on Tuesday.

"I am really disappointed, I wasn't in the game and I didn't play at all well," said a glum Gasquet with Roland Garros set to start in less than a fortnight.

"I am not confident at all for Roland Garros, but you can never say never, I will try to do my best there, of course."

"I am not carrying any injuries, but I am just so tired.

"This year is totally different to 2005, then I was playing well, I was confident and I did well at Monte Carlo before I came here.

"Now I just need to get some rest and try to recover."

Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is now left to fly the French flag when he faces Sweden's Robin Soderling in the second round on Wednesday.

But there were no such problems elsewhere in the draw as neither fourth-seed Nikolay Davydenko nor fifth-seed David Ferrer wasted any time booking their places in the third round after comfortable wins.

Ferrer had few problems as the Spaniard claimed a routine second-round victory with a 6-3, 6-3 win in just 76 minutes against Ivo Minar from the Czech Republic.

Davydenko, who by his own admission is never comfortable on clay, took slightly longer needing only 85 minutes to secure his 6-4, 6-1 win over Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia.

Davydenko is bidding to repeat March's Masters Series win in Miami when he beat world number two Rafael Nadal in the final on hard court and enjoyed his first victory over Ljubicic since 2004 in Monte-Carlo.

"It's always difficult to play your first match of a tournament, it doesn't matter how confident you feel," said Davydenko, who is ranked fourth in the world.

"I didn't play well in Rome last week when I lost to Tommy Robredo (in the third round) and I want to do well here in preparation for Roland Garros."

Earlier, Spain's Carlos Moya reached the second round with a hard-fought three-set win over France's Julien Benneteau.

Eleventh-seed Moya, who won his only Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 1998, said he was pleased to get a win under his belt after struggling recently.

Despite losing the first set he went on to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) win.

"The last couple of tournaments have been tough for me," said the Spaniard.

"Every match had felt like torture for me, so although the first set didn't go well, I came back into it and had a good win."

And compatriot Fernando Verdasco booked his place in the third round in Hamburg with a straight sets win over France's Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-0.

Germany's No 1 Philipp Kohlschreiber fell by the wayside when he lost to Spain's Tommy Robredo 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 despite breaking the 13th seed twice on his way to taking the first set.

But after losing the second set tiebreaker, Kohlschreiber had few answers as Robredo served out the third set.

WTA Rome delayed

In Rome, persistent rain put an early end to play at the WTA Rome International on Tuesday.

Only four matches were completed before a torrential downpour suspended play at around 5 pm local time.

Courts became flooded but light rain never abated and at just after 9 pm, tournament organizers decided to call off the day's play and resume at 11 am on Wednesday.

Austrian 19th seed Sybille Bammer was the highest-ranked player to finish a game but she was easily dismissed by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1, 6-3.

Home favorite Roberta Vinci gave the sparse crowds something to cheer about as she battled to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Both Williams sisters were due to begin their campaigns in the second round but will now have to wait until Wednesday to take to the courts.

The top two seeds Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russia's Maria Sharapova are also due to play on Wednesday.

AFP

(China Daily 05/15/2008 page24)