STOCKHOLM, 22 October 2003 — Jarkko Nieminen returned to the scene of his first career final and suffered another loss in the opening round to exit the 650,000 euro Stockholm Open here yesterday.
The 22-year-old Finn made a career breakthrough in 2001 at the Kungligahallen but has suffered badly at the venue on his last two return visits.
Nieminen, seeded eighth, absorbed a testing 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2 defeat to Gregory Carraz, one of two Frenchmen to advance on the day.
Nieminen was also beaten by Todd Martin at the same venue in his opener a year ago.
The Finn has now been a first-round victim at three of his last four events, a notable exception being his quarterfinal appearance in Vienna, but he refused to get downcast.
Carraz, who stands 73rd on the ATP, made a stand in the second set after lifting the first, recovering from 1-4 down. But Nieminen managed to square the match despite being broken as he serverd for the second set.
Carraz broke to start the third with Nieminen leading 40-0 and got an insurance break to reach 4-0 before the Finn got on the scoreboard with a love game, polished off with an ace.
Carraz set up match point with an ace and advanced from the Finn’s passing shot wide.
Americans Mardy Fish and good friend Robby Ginepri both reached the second round, Fish beating Australian qualifier Paul Buccanello 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) and Ginepri stopping another qualifier, Belgian Kristof Vliegen, 6-1, 6-3.
Wayne Ferreira’s hopes of playing in pain through the final leg of the season collapsed as the veteran South African was eliminated in the first round 6-4, 6-2 by Juan Chela.
Federer Breezes Past Rosset
In Basel, Switzerland, Roger Federer breezed into the second round of the Swiss Indoors yesterday with a 6-1, 6-3 win over fellow Swiss Marc Rosset.
Rosset, the world No. 117 and Federer’s Davis Cup captain, was no match for the Wimbledon champion in front of his delighted home town crowd at the St. Jakobshalle.
Federer, the second seed, was 5-0 up before Rosset got on the scoreboard as the two-time Basel finalist blasted his way to the first set.
Fifth-seed Jiri Novak overcame an early scare to move into the second round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over qualifier Arvind Parmar.
Czech Novak, the world No. 17, was outplayed in the opening set by the Briton ranked 146 places below him, but recovered despite failing to find his best form.
Novak grabbed a break when 2-1 up in the second set and went on to serve out to force a deciding set. Parmar’s form then collapsed, Novak wrapping up victory with a smash. The 28-year-old, who won his one title this season in Switzerland’s Gstaad Open in July, will face a Spaniard, either Rafael Nadal or Feliciano Lopez, in the second round. Sixth-seeded Australian Mark Philippoussis withdrew before his first-round tie with Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti because of a chest infection.
Arnaud Clement won an all-French affair with Paul Henri Mathieu 6-4, 7-6. He will face either fourth-seed and defending champion David Nalbandian or Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.
German Tomas Behrend came from a set down in his opening match before beating American James Blake 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. World No. 93 Behrend, who will play Philippoussis or Lapentti next, made Blake pay for a string of unforced errors.
French qualifier Michael Llodra beat Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 6-3, 6-4, while Czech Tomas Zib had to work hard for a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Swiss wild card Stanislas Wawrinka.
