|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Happy in Paris French Open champ Kuerten looks strong in Paris opener
Updated: Tuesday November 14, 2000 9:20 PM
PARIS (AP) -- Andre Agassi pulled out of the $2.95 million Paris Masters on Tuesday, handing an advantage to two-time French Open champion and top seed Gustavo Kuerten, intent on reclaiming his lead in the season's race to No. 1. Details on Agassi's withdrawal were not immediately available but tournament organizers, who made the announcement, said it was due to a hip injury that also caused the American, ranked seventh in the Champions Race, to pull out of Lyon over the weekend. Agassi, the defending champion, will be replaced by Frenchman Stephane Huet. Top-seeded Kuerten, of Brazil, eliminated American Chris Woodruff 6-3, 7-6 (7-0). The victory comes after Kuerten lost to Australia's Patrick Rafter in Lyon last week, enabling Russia's Marat Safin to jump into the No. 1 slot in the Champions Race. Down 4-1 in the second set, the top-seeded Kuerten took control of the American with a string of aces and strong baseline shots as his American opponent got a workout. "I lost my energy a little bit, my speed and focus for one or two games. But then I felt OK, playing the matches the way I like," Kuerten said afterwards. After serving out two games in the second set with aces, the Brazilian won the tiebreak with an ace, not letting Woodruff score a single point. The second set ended 7-6 (7-0). The indoor Paris event will help settle the remaining two berths for the elite year-end Masters Cup, in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 27- Dec. 3. The six who have qualified so far are the four Grand Slam winners -- Kuerten, Safin, Agassi and Pete Sampras - plus Magnus Norman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. With an outside chance of finishing the year at No. 1, Olympic gold medalist Kafelnikov defeated Sweden's Magnus Gustafsson in another second round match Tuesday. The No. 4 seeded Russian eliminated his Swedish opponent after two tightly paced sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Kafelnikov came back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to win the match with a crosscourt forehand. Ranked fifth in the Champions Race 2000, the 26-year-old Russian became the sixth player to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup championship, after reaching the semifinals in St. Petersburg last week. Kafelnikov became angered twice because of line calls, drawing hisses from the French fans. Fifth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, 19, one of the tennis world's up-and-coming stars, pulled out of the tournament on Tuesday, saying he was trying to recuperate from an illness that had zapped his energy for the last several months. "It's a little worrying at the moment," said Hewitt, who lost the finals in Stuttgart earlier this month to Wayne Ferreira. Hewitt will be replaced by Israeli Harel Levy, who faces American Michael Chang in the third round. The young Australian didn't rule out playing in tournaments later this year. "I've got to give myself every chance possible that I'm going to be fit going into Lisbon, and also the big one for me is the Davis Cup final," he said. In other matches, Ferreira, ranked 11th, defeated Max Mirnyi, of Belarus, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Gianluca Pozzi of Italy defeated Karol Kucera of Slovakia 4-6, 7-5 (8-6). French fans lost their star when the French No. 1 player, Cedric Pioline, seeded 14, lost in a second round match to Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 7-5, 7-5. No. 9 seed Tim Henman lost his bid to enter the year-end championship, when he was defeated in a second round match by Spain's Albert Costa, 6-4, 6-4. Henman, who needed to reach the semifinals in Paris to qualify for one of the two remaining spots at the Masters Cup, lost the match on an out-of-bounds backhand service return. Henman had beaten Costa in their last three clashes this year. The Paris tournament, formerly the Paris Open, is the last of the nine-vent Tennis Masters Series, the most important events after the Grand Slams. Sampras is skipping the Paris tournament.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
