DEN BOSCH, Netherlands, 15 June 2005 — Mark Philippoussis showed he still knows his way around a grasscourt as he beat seventh seed Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 to reach the second round of the Ordina Open yesterday.
The Australian, preparing for another tilt at Wimbledon where he was runner-up in 2003, wrapped up victory on his third match point and will now play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain. Beaten by eventual champion Andy Roddick in the second round of the Stella Artois Championships in London last week, Philippoussis saved two set points in the second-set tiebreak to win it 10-8.
Third seed Mario Ancic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, overpowered Dutch qualifier Paul Logtens 6-4, 6-2 to set up a battle of the big servers with Australian Wayne Arthurs.
Sixth seed Andrei Pavel was beaten 6-2, 7-6 by Swede Jonas Bjorkman, while twice former champion Sjeng Schalken ousted Bjorn Phau 7-6, 6-1. He’ll next face Italian David Sanguinetti.
In the women’s event, Michaella Krajicek showed she will be a threat to the seeded players at Wimbledon as she crushed Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round.
The 16-year-old, sister of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, was never troubled as she set up a clash with third seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who beat Czech Iveta Benesova 6-4, 7-6.
Krajicek rewarded tournament organisers with an accomplished display against Cervanova, ranked 15 places above her at 84th.
Fourth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina cruised past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-1 but there was a defeat for fifth seed Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain, beaten 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 by Czech Lucie Safarova.
Paradorn, Karlovic Through at Nottingham Open
In London, champion Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand eased into the second round of the Nottingham Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over British qualifier Mark Hilton yesterday.
Sixth seed Paradorn is in line to face French fourth seed Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals of the pre-Wimbledon event after the teenager beat Czech Tomas Zib 7-6, 6-2 in their first-round match.
The unseeded Ivo Karlovic, who reached the Stella Artois Championships final last week, continued his Wimbledon preparations with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian Igor Andreev. At the other end of the draw, second seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden ousted Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 6-3.
Clijsters Happy to Be Back on Grass
In Eastbourne, England, Kim Clijsters’ first match on grass in two years ended in a comfortable victory for the former world No. 1 yesterday. Clijsters was happy with her 6-1, 7-6 victory over Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Eastbourne WTA tournament.
Russian Elena Likhovtseva became the first seed to go out of the 585,000-pound ($1.06-million) tournament, losing 7-6, 6-2 to Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.
