DEN BOSCH, Netherlands, 18 June 2003 — Former champion Richard Krajicek pulled out of Wimbledon yesterday after he was beaten 6-4, 7-6 by Frenchman Olivier Mutis at the Ordina Open.

The Dutchman struggled with his game throughout and his usually dependable serve coughed up 13 double faults in the first-round defeat.

Krajicek’s coach Rohan Goetzke said the 1996 Wimbledon champion was still suffering from a long-standing elbow injury.

“It’s because of the injury, Goetzke told reporters after confirming his Wimbledon withdrawal. “It’s not like it gets better if he doesn’t train. He would need an injection to play Wimbledon and he doesn’t want to do that,” said Goetzke.

It was a good day all round for the French as Sebastian Grosjean and Arnaud Clement joined Mutis in round two, albeit in contrasting styles. Grosjean suffered a mid-match slump but regained his composure to beat German Philipp Petzschner 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Frenchman Arnaud Clement cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Dutch wildcard Fred Hemmes Jr.In the women’s event, fifth seed Nadia Petrova stuttered to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia, while Barbara Rittner and Els Callens were among the first-round winners.

Rusedski’s Return

to Form Gathers

In Nottingham, England, Greg Rusedski delighted home fans with a clinical 6-4, 6-4 defeat of ninth seed Jarkko Nieminen to reach the second round of the Nottingham Open yesterday.

Earlier on a sun-bathed center court top seed Younes El Aynaoui honed his grasscourt game with a comfortable 7-6, 6-4 victory over Germany’s Alexander Waske.

Reigning champion Jonas Bjorkman was the day’s outstanding performer, crushing second seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-0 with a near-perfect display of grasscourt tennis.

The Swede will next play British wildcard Arvind Parmar in the second round.

In other play Taylor Dent beat fellow American Brian Vahaly 6-3, 6-4, Max Mirnyi of Belarus beat American Robby Ginepri and Brazilian Andre Sa saved three match points before dumping British wildcard Jamie Delgado 6-7, 7-6, 7-6.

Dokic and Myskina

Fall on English Lawns

In Eastbourne, England, fifth and sixth seeds Anastasia Myskina and Jelena Dokic, looking distinctly ill-at-ease, fell in the first round of the Eastbourne tournament yesterday, the final warm-up for Wimbledon.

Myskina, a rising Russian talent ranked 10th in the world, lost 6-2, 6-4 to the grasscourt experience of South African Amanda Coetzer, while Dokic who usually favors lawns, stumbled to an error-ridden 6-3, 6-1 defeat at the hands of 89th-ranked Japanese player Saori Obata.

By contrast Magdalena Maleeva kept her grasscourt game rolling with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Lisa Raymond.