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Slow to adjust Corretja can't make transition from clay to grass
HALLE, Germany (AP) -- Three days after being in the final of the French Open on clay, Alex Corretja lasted less than an hour on grass Wednesday, winning just two games in a loss to Jerome Golmard at the Gerry Weber Open. The only tournament on grass in Germany, the $1 million Halle event is a major warm-up for Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year that starts later this month. Corretja pulled out of last year's Wimbledon after not being seeded and said he still hasn't decided about playing this year despite a new seeding system. "I still haven't made up mind. It's a step in the right direction," said the Spanish clay-court specialist, who was seeded fifth in Halle, lower than he should have been according to the ATP's entry system. In an attempt to appease clay court specialists threatening a boycott, Wimbledon has doubled the number of seeded players to 32. But the only Grand Slam on grass retained the right to determine the exact order of the men's seeded players based on their grass-court records. The seedings list has not been released. Corretja has indicated that he would wait to see his seeding before deciding whether to play. Gustavo Kuerten, who beat Corretja Sunday for his third French Open title, already has pulled out of Wimbledon and some other leading clay-court players are still threatening to stay away. If Corretja does decide to play in Wimbledon, he'll go there without much match practice. His grass debut of the season lasted only 51 minutes in the 6-0, 6-2 loss to Golmard, a Frenchman who is in a three-way tie between places 58 and 61 in this year's Champions Race. Corretja is No. 7. "I had no time to prepare, I only had one day to practice and I could not adapt to grass," Corretja said. "Also, he played very well, I never got into the match." Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia cruised into the third round by downing Germany's Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-4, closing out the match with a service winner after having wasted one match point with a double-fault.
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