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Tough return Philippoussis falls in first match since calf injury
Posted: Monday April 17, 2000 08:29 PM
MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) -- Seeded players Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis, struggling to adapt their big-serving styles to clay, both crashed out in the first round of the Monte Carlo Open on Monday. Cedric Pioline was the only seeded player to record a first-day win, easing through in straight sets against Magnus Larsson. Britain's Rusedski, seeded 10th, never looked comfortable against clay court specialist Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic, who won 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1. After the match Rusedski was angry that his opponent had taken a ten-minute bathroom break at the start of the third set. "I had him down and out and tired, so it was a bit of gamesmanship out there," he said. "I lost the rhythm a little bit and didn't make him compete the way I had in the first two sets." Explaining the delay, Dosedel said that he had been asked by tournament security staff to use the bathroom in the club house rather than the ones immediately behind the court that had been used by Rusedski during the match. "It was not on purpose," the 29-year-old Czech said. "Maybe I looked like I was down but I never felt tired during the whole match." Still, Rusedski agreed that he has a long way to go to adapt his game to clay. "I am playing better this year than I did last, but I still have the same result. Losing in the first round," he said. Experienced South African Wayne Ferreira downed Philippoussis, the number 14 seed, 6-4, 7-5 in damp conditions that neutralized the Australian's powerful serve. "I started practicing [on clay] last Monday and only had a couple of days," Philippoussis said. "I have two weeks off now. I am going to home and train very hard." Driving rain restricted play on the opening day of the $2.95 million event, the first of the newly-formed Masters Series to be played in Europe. Spectators were also disappointed at the absence of many of the game's top stars. The Masters Series was launched this year in part to deter top stars from skipping tournaments. But three of the to six in the current 12-month rankings, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Nicolas Kiefer, withdrew. Other stars such as Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt are also absent. Between the showers, France's Fabrice Santoro beat Orlian Stanoytchev of Bulgaria and Christian Ruud of Norway eliminated Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra. But No. 11 seed Younes El Aynaoui fell out after being forced to retire during the second set against Sargis Sargsian of Armenia. Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic was a winner with a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 success against Swiss teenager Roger Federer. Frenchman Nicolas Escude also advanced to the second round with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, win against countryman Stephane Huet.
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