DEN BOSCH, Netherlands, 17 June 2003 — Second seed Paradorn Srichaphan narrowly avoided an embarrassing exit in the first round of the Ordina Open yesterday against lowly Dutch qualifier Paul Logtens.

The Thai, who beat Andre Agassi at Wimbledon last year, struggled from the start but squeezed home 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to join defending champion Sjeng Schalken in the second round.

After a poor claycourt season, Paradorn was beaten by Mario Ancic in the second round of the Stella Artois Championship in London last week and his lack of confidence was plain to see.

Logtens, ranked 557th in the world, mixed an ungainly style with a never-say-die attitude and had Paradorn rattled throughout.

Even when Paradorn served for the match at 5-3 in the decider the Dutchman broke back in style and saved one match point in the next game before the Thai finally clinched victory.

Schalken, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, breezed into the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Spaniard Albert Portas.

The Dutchman, seeded three, set up a second round match with Belgian Christophe Rochus, who ousted Ancic 6-2 6-3.

Schalken, who beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement in last year’s final, served and volleyed well against Portas, a claycourt specialist.

American teenager Ashley Harkleroad was an early casualty in the women’s event as she was beaten by German Marlene Weingartner.

Seventh seed Harkleroad shot to prominence when she beat Daniela Hantuchova at the French Open but struggled on her opening event of the short grasscourt season and Weingartner, the world number 67, took advantage to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Sixth seed Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan had no such trouble, crushing Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-3, 6-0.

There were also wins for Elena Dementieva, Katarina Srebotnik, Cara Black and Ludmila Cervanova.

Hewitt Pips Agassi

in Seedings

In London, last year’s champion Lleyton Hewitt has been made top seed for next week’s Wimbledon championships, ahead of world number one Andre Agassi.

Unlike every other tournament in the world, Wimbledon refuses to stick to the ATP’s world rankings, instead using a combination of rankings and grasscourt form over recent years when determining men’s seeds.

Britain’s Tim Henman also profited from this unique system. Four times a semifinalist at the grasscourt grand slam, he was seeded 10th by the organizers yesterday despite being ranked just 29th in the world.

The decision to seed Australian world number two Hewitt top and to elevate Henman some 19 places is sure to stoke the debate about Wimbledon’s controversial seeding methods. Hewitt himself, however, is not remotely bothered.

“Number one or number two... top or bottom. I couldn’t care less, mate,” he said when asked whether it was an issue last week.

However, the tournament does stick to the women’s world rankings for their seeds.

World number one and defending champion Serena Williams was seeded top in that draw, followed by Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne with Serena’s elder sister Venus seeded fourth.

Kournikova Out

of Wimbledon

In London, struggling glamour girl Anna Kournikova’s miserable season continued with the news that she cannot compete in Wimbledon next week because of a recurring back injury.

The 22-year-old Russian — a former Wimbledon semifinalist — has been diagnosed as suffering from a chronic lumbar dysfunction and was forced out of Birmingham last week after aggravating her injury in practice. Still searching for her first career title on the women’s tour, Kournikova, a former top 10 player, has this year suffered the worst slump of her career, dropping out of the world’s top 50 as a result of poor form and injuries.