MONACO, 21 April 2004 — Two-time defending champion and second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters here yesterday losing 6-2, 6-3 in the first round to Spanish countryman and wildcard Alex Corretja.
French Open champion Ferrero, who was the highest seeded player left in the tournament after the withdrawal of Andy Roddick, is now without a title since the Madrid Masters last October.
The defeat came less than a week after he had lost his grip on another title he possessed when he was a semifinal loser in Valencia.
His meek 68-minute defeat to the 30-year-old Corretja was only his second loss to his compatriot in six meetings and such was the manner of his one-sided capitulation that there will be serious doubts over his ability to hang on to his Roland Garros crown next month.
He lost his serve twice in the opening set which he surrendered in just 34 minutes with Corretja, twice a French Open runner-up, enjoying an error-free set while Ferrero hit 15.
The second seed committed 13 more unforced errors in the second set as he lost serve again in the sixth game and then surrendered the match when Corretja hit an ace.
It was only Corretja’s fifth win in 2004 but it was he said his sweetest.
Ferrero was joined on the sidelines by another seeded player with Thailand’s 10th seed Paradorn Srichaphan knocked out by Argentinian clay court specialist and weekend Estoril winner Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-3.
Unlike Ferrero, fellow ex-world No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin staged stirring recoveries to reach the second round.
Hewitt defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to claim his first career win here while Safin, a runner-up at Estoril last week, beat Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Hewitt, seeded 16, lost on his only other previous appearance in the first round in 2002 to Carlos Moya.
Australia’s Wayne Arthurs defeated Frenchman Thierry Ascione 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 after reaching the main draw as a lucky loser when Roddick pulled out while there were also wins for last year’s French Open runner-up Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, the 14th seed, who beat Spain’s Albert Portas 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, eighth seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean who saw off countryman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2 while seventh seeded Argentinian David Nalbandian beat Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-0.
Spain’s Carlos Moya, champion here in 1998, had a 7-6 (5 7), 1-6, 6-3 win against Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian.
