HAMBURG, Germany – Defending champion Gustavo Kuerten,
weary from his title match last weekend, was beaten by Max Mirnyi
of Belarus on Tuesday in the first round of the Tennis Masters Series -- Hamburg.
|  | | Max Mirnyi overcome some late miscues to beat Gustavo Kuerten in a third-set tiebreaker. |
Mirnyi defeated the world's No. 1 player 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in
the $2.95 million Tennis Masters Series event, a key tuneup for
this month's French Open. Kuerten won the Paris title in 1997 and
2000.
"Maybe mentally I was a little tired," said Kuerten, who lost
in five sets to Juan Carlos Ferrero in Sunday's final at the
Tennis Masters Series -- Rome. "If I was here four days before the tournament, I
could prepare myself better.
"He was motivated against me and it is like this: I mean, every
player here has a chance to beat other players."
In another upset, France's Nicolas Escude downed former French
Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-5, 7-5, the Russian's sixth
straight loss in the opening round.
Kafelnikov's troubles were compounded when he was disqualified
from the doubles tournament for insulting the umpire during his
singles match against Escude.
Earlier, Ferrero showed he figures to contend in Paris. He
downed two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
two days after winning the Italian Open.
And Marat Safin, on the mend from a back injury, beat German
wild card Jens Knippschild 6-2, 6-4.
The Kuerten-Mirnyi match was 5-5 in the third set, and it
appeared the Brazilian would prevail after Mirnyi double faulted
three times.
That allowed Kuerten to break and then serve for the match. But
Mirnyi broke back to force the tiebreaker.
Mirnyi broke to lead 6-4. Kuerten drew to 6-5 and then netted
Mirnyi's next serve. Kuerten has a 3-11 tiebreak record.
"I had a good feeling going into the match," said Mirnyi,
recovering from a sprained foot. "It was nice to play good tennis
in front of so many people."
With two weeks before the French Open, Kuerten is not
encouraged.
"Right now, the feeling for Roland Garros is not so good," he
said. "But you cannot tell these things. I am playing well and
this is not going to change for the next weeks. I must see a better
way to prepare myself now."
Kafelnikov won the French Open in 1996, but he is just 1-3 this
year on clay. Kafelnikov has not won since the second round of the
Ericsson Open in March.
Ferrero has won 12 consecutive matches. He is the winner of four
titles this season, three on clay. He has lost only one match all
year on clay, with 18 victories.
"Today I feel a little bit tired but I think Bruguera plays too
solid with not many mistakes," he said. "In the third I was
little tired but it's normal.
"It's difficult to be in very good physical preparation in
Roland Garros because it is the last tournament in clay court, but
I hope to be in great form there."
Safin, who lost in the finals of this event last year, has had a
rough month while playing with his back injury.
"I feel OK," he said. "I'm glad that I'm back in, trying to
get my confidence back. ... This is very important for me because I
will need everything for the French Open."
Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic upset 11th-seeded Arnaud
Clement of France 7-5, 6-2, and Tommy Haas of Germany topped
15th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4.
Sweden's Magnus Norman, seeded fifth, defeated Switzerland's
Marc Rosset 6-3, 7-5; Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, seeded seventh,
downed France's Arnaud Di Pasquale 6-3, 6-2; and Spain's Alex
Corretja, seeded 10th, stopped Britain's Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-4.
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