VIENNA, 7 October 2003 — Fourth seed Sjeng Schalken faces Britain’s Tim Henman in the second round of the indoor CA Trophy after both swept aside qualifiers in their opening matches yesterday.
Dutchman Schalken wore down Germany’s Alexander Waske 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the 765,000 euro ATP event, while unseeded Henman barely broke a sweat in seeing off Italy’s Stefano Pescosolido 6-2, 6-3.
Schalken said he was looking forward to playing the 2000 Vienna champion in the next round.
A strong performance by Schalken on the hardcourt in Vienna is important if he wants to boost his chances of qualifying for the prestigious Masters Cup in Houston from Nov. 8-16.
Schalken stands 11th in the ATP Champions Race, with the top eight players qualifying for the season-ending jamboree.
Top seed and Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has already secured his ticket to Houston, so a solid showing this week is merely a matter of honor.
In other first-round play, Finn Jarkko Niemenen advanced with a 7-6, 6-0 win over Slovak Karol Kucera.
Mantilla First Seed
to Fall in Lyon
In Lyon, Spain’s Felix Mantilla was the first seed to fall at the $800,000 ATP event yesterday in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) defeat by Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.
Youzhny, ranked 44th in the world, will now meet Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia who ousted Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-3, 7-5 in another first round match. Nadal, world-ranked 66th, had three points for the second set and led 5-1 at one stage but Hrbaty hit back to win six games in a row.
Meanwhile Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, Morocco’s Hicham Arazi, Xavier Malisse of Belgium and Switzerland’s Marc Rosset all made it to the main draw after coming through the qualifying tournament.
Serena Is Still the Real
Number One: Clijsters
In Filderstadt, Germany, Kim Clijsters could surrender her number one ranking to fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne this week but she still considers Serena Williams to be the world’s top player.
“She gets that extra and that makes her I think still the best player in the world, no problem,” said Clijsters yesterday before the start of her defense of the Porsche Grand Prix title.
“If she was injury-free she’s the toughest to beat out there. If Serena played the number of tournaments that I play I definitely think that she would be number one.
“But tennis is in part consistency and being fit and trying to stay fit, and definitely this year until now I’ve been very consistent, more than she has.”
Serena is currently ranked three behind Clijsters and Henin but the American has missed a number of events this season due to a knee problem that required surgery at the start of August.
Clijsters and Henin have clashed repeatedly on and off court, with Henin twice beating the world number one in grand slam finals at the French Open and the US Open.
