MONTREAL, 10 August 2005 — Andre Agassi began his quest for a second successive title with an emphatic 6-4 6-2 win over Spain’s Alberto Martin in the first round of the Montreal Masters on Monday.
Britain’s Tim Henman, however, became the highest seeded casualty on the first day of the event when he was tamed 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 by Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty.
Agassi, who marked his comeback from a two-month injury layoff with victory in Los Angeles eight days ago, fired down eight aces to easily overcome Martin.
“I was pleased with the way I improved over the course of the match,” said the 35-year-old American fourth seed.
“I was a little nervous in the beginning and the ball was really flying ... and I was losing control of a few shots. But by the end, I started finding my swing again and felt pretty good.” Tenth seed Henman appeared to be coasting toward a place in the second round before Hrbaty suddenly came to life to bamboozle the Briton.
Despite the defeat, Henman remained upbeat about his chances at the US Open, which begins on Aug. 29.
“It’s frustrating but not alarming,” said Henman, who arrived in Canada after a family holiday in Tuscany. “I played well in the first set but when my level of play dropped, his rose. “I’m trying to improve certain aspects of my game and I’m going to continue to put into play in matches what I work on in training.” Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio led a trio of Argentines into the second round.
Sixth seed Gaudio defeated Italy’s Davide Sanguinetti 1-6, 7-6, 7-5, eighth seed Mariano Puerta edged out Luis Horna 7-6, 7-6 and ninth seed David Nalbandian beat countryman Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4. 6-1.
Safina Struggles to
Down Brandi
In Los Angeles, California, Russian 12th seed Dinara Safina overcame a lacklustre start to overpower Puerto Rico’s Kristina Brandi 7-6, 6-3 in the first round of JP Morgan Chase Open on Monday.
Safina was joined in the second round by several lower seeds, including 13th ranked Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who dumped Madagascar’s Dally Randriantefy 7-5, 6-3, and 14th seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who beat Colombia’s Fabiola Zuluaga 6-3, 6-3.
With the top seeds enjoying first round byes, the lesser ranked players battled to reach the second round and 15th seed Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic also advanced with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Maja Matevzic of Slovenia. On a day of few surprise results, 16th seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia defeated Na Li of China 7-5, 6-4 and 17th seeded Marion Bartoli of France eased past Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin 6-1, 6-4.
Safina, however, was not pleased with her performance against Brandi and immediately after the match, went out to practice for 30 minutes.
“I didn’t play my best today, I had like 20 chances to break serve and didn’t,” Safina said. “I really had to fight and maybe that’s good to win a match even though I didn’t have my rhythm.” Two seeds were beaten in games involving Japanese players as qualifier Aiko Nakauma upended Italian 10th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4 and China’s Jie Zheng upset 11th seed Shinobu Asagoe 6-7, 6-3, 6-0.
Bartoli struggled with the wind and slow hard court but managed to overcome the difficult conditions to push past Camerin.
“I’m finding my power,” said Bartoli, who has been struggling with a foot injury.
“I liked the way I played in the last game to close the match out. I’ve had some tough draws recently but I think I’ve improved a lot the past year.” Russia’s Maria Kirilenko outlasted American Marissa Irvin 4-6,7-5, 6-2 to earn a second round match against her top-seeded compatriot and friend, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova is unlikely to be in a charitable mood, however, as a semifinal appearance at this event would allow the former Wimbledon champion to usurp the injured Lindsay Davenport as world No 1.
With the US Open a little less than three weeks away, a number of events on the WTA Tour has been ravaged by a series of injuries and this tournament has fallen victim to a host of withdrawals.
Davenport pulled out with a lower back injury, joining Serena Williams on the sidelines, who is struggling with an ankle problem. Seventh-seed Vera Zvonareva also pulled out with an ankle sprain, eighth-seed Elena Likhovtseva withdrew with an upset stomach and Japan’s Ai Sugiyama opted to miss the event because of a strained hamstring.
Sharapova is top ranked player in the event, followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters and Mary Pierce.
Banned Canas Insists ATP Have Made Mistake
In Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Guillermo Canas insisted that the men’s tennis organizers the ATP had made a mistake by handing the world number 10 a two-year ban for doping on Monday.
The announcement of the suspension stunned the 27-year-old Canas’s homeland after he became the fourth player from the South American country to fall foul of doping violations in recent years.
“The ATP have made a mistake in my case,” said Canas, who tested positive for the prohibited diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) at a tournament in the Mexican resort of Acapulco in February.
“It was a lapse by the whole system at the Acapulco tournament,” he told a news conference.
“It was people from the tournament who went to buy me the medicines with the guarantees of the ATP,” said Canas, who has protested his innocence since the ATP announced they were investigating him two months ago.
“I never in my life thought they would give me the maximum sentence,” he said.
“They’re trying to carry out justice with a system which is not 100 percent certain and efficient, and which makes mistakes.
“My career is not going to end, that’s for sure. I’m suffering a great injustice.” Few in Argentina had expected the maximum penalty after previous offenders Juan Ignacio Chela, Guillermo Coria and Mariano Puerta were let off with lesser suspensions.
Chela was suspended for three months in 2001 after testing positive for the steroid methyltestosterone.
Later that year, Coria was banned for seven months and fined $98,500 after testing positive for nandrolone.
Puerta was suspended for nine months in 2004 after he was found to have the banned substance clenbuterol in his system during a doping test at a tournament in Chile in 2003.
“I don’t think there’s a conspiracy,” Canas said. “It’s more of a political decision than a decision against my country. There’s a lot of money at stake.” Canas’s ban drew immediate comparisons with soccer player Diego Maradona, who famously said that his legs had been cut off after he was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup for failing a doping test.
Former player Guillermo Vilas was among those who felt the ban was harsh.
“It’s sad for Argentina tennis and it’s a very tough punishment,” Vilas said. “Canas did not have previous offenses. If there is a lad who has had a clean life, it’s Guillermo Canas,” he added. He will be eligible to return to competition on June 11, 2007.
