MONTE CARLO, 20 April 2004 — Argentine Guillermo Coria laid out his plans for the clay court season in just 48 minutes with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Thomas Enqvist in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday.
Crowd favorites Goran Ivanisevic and Gustavo Kuerten, however, went out of the tournament on the opening day.
Runner-up in the principality last year, third seed Coria was in devastating form as he outclassed his Swedish opponent from the baseline. Coria was playing his first match since being forced to retire from the Nasdaq-100 Open final against Andy Roddick earlier this month with what had initially been diagnosed as a disc hernia.
Tim Henman survived a stern test on his first outing on clay this year to overcome American Vince Spadea 6-7, 6-4, 7-6.
The British sixth seed, who did not play at the event last year, struggled to adapt his serve-and-volley game to the slow surface.
Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten slumped to a 7-6, 6-3 defeat by fourth seed Rainer Schuettler. The former world No. 1 was hopelessly out of form on his favorite surface and had to be content with saving a match point before handing victory to his German opponent by floating a return long.
Ivanisevic’s glory days looked far behind him when the former Wimbledon champion was beaten by a French qualifier.
The Croatian ran out of steam as Nicolas Devilder recorded a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, Czech Jiri Novak and Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez were the seeded casualties on the first day. Schalken, seeded 11, was beaten by Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-1, 6-3 while 12th seed Novak bowed out 6-4, 7-5 to American Taylor Dent. Gonzalez, the 13th seed, suffered a 6-4 6-3 defeat by Belarus’ Max Mirnyi.
Haas Upsets Roddick to Win US Clay Court Title
Tommy Haas of Germany put his injury woes behind him to stun number one seed Andy Roddick of the United States 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston on Sunday.
Haas picked up $52,000 in winning his first tournament title in over two years, his last victory coming at Stuttgart in October 2001.
The unseeded German missed all of last season with a shoulder injury and was playing just his fifth tournament of the year.
Venus Wins First Title in 14 Months at Charleston
In New York, Venus Williams recovered from a poor first set to win her first WTA tour title in over a year by beating Conchita Martinez 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday.
Williams lost her serve twice in the first set and appeared to be in trouble against the 16th-seeded Spaniard Martinez, twice winner of the event. But Williams, the fourth-seed, took over the match in the last two sets and showed much of the poise and confidence she had before injuries slowed her down in the past year. It was the American’s first tournament win since February 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium.
Chela Churns Past Safin to Win Estoril Title
Argentine Juan Chela staged a 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3 comeback to beat Marat Safin to win the 748,850-euros Estoril Open on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded South American rallied after dropping the opening set, breaking the former Grand Slam champion and world number one twice in the second set and recovering in the third to seal the win.
Chela had previously been beaten all three times he had faced Safin, who despite the loss will move to third in the season points race.
In the women’s final France’s Emilie Loit won her second title in as many tournaments, overcoming a fightback from Czech sixth seed Iveta Benesova to triumph 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).
