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Tim Henman of Britain returns a backhand to Mikhail Youzhny of
Russia during their match in the Paris Masters Series ATP tennis
tournament, November 4, 2004. [Reuters] |
Top-seeded Andy Roddick and defending champion Tim
Henman were upset in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday.
Roddick lost 7-6 (2), 6-2 to qualifier Max Mirnyi, while Henman was beaten 7-5,
6-1 by unseeded Mikhail Youzhny.
Roddick lost his composure
in a second set riddled with errors and marked by a running feud with
umpire Lars Graff. With Mirnyi
leading 3-1, Roddick questioned a call and then asked Graff: "Do you play
golf?"
The chair umpire said, "No."
Roddick replied: "Good, because if you did, you should use your
mulligan on that call."
At the changeover, Roddick continued arguing. He then pointed to a spot
at the back of the court with his racket and urged Graff to look.
Roddick said after that he was "more mad at myself" than at the
official. He did praise Mirnyi's performance. "Max played well. He always
serves good and didn't miss many volleys," Roddick said. "Sometimes you
don't feel you're on the court against him. It can go by so quickly, it's
hard to find a rhythm."
Henman, meanwhile, lost his last five service games.
"I wasn't sharp and my movement was sluggish," the third-seeded Henman
said. "I couldn't dictate the rallies as I would have liked."
Youzhny, who recently won his second career title at St. Petersburg,
faces a quarterfinal against Radek Stepanek, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 17
Vince Spadea.
In other action, second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt reached the quarterfinals
when No. 14 Nicolas Massu quit with a thigh injury while trailing 4-3 in
the first set, No. 13 Guillermo Canas beat Tommy Haas 7-6 (4), 6-2, and
Feliciano Lopez defeated No. 11 Andrei Pavel 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Pavel was last
year's runner-up.
Hewitt's next opponent is
No. 6 Marat Safin, who beat Jurgen Melzer 6-2,
7-5.
(Agencies) |