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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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Wednesday, May 30 |
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Kuerten, Ferrero advance in straight sets ESPN.com news services | |||
PARIS Tournament favorites Gustavo
Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero blasted their way into the third
round of the French Open on Wednesday with powerful performances.
Top seed Kuerten hammered Argentine
Agustin Calleri 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, while Ferrero outclassed Marcos
Ondruska 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.
Brazil's Kuerten hit with his customary power to rack up his second
straight-sets victory of the tournament.
Kuerten suffered one mini-crisis when his serve was broken
in the second set at 5-2, with Calleri holding
confidently in his next service game to hint at a possible
comeback.
Kuerten's poise returned in the next game, though, as he
held for the set. He also kept his nerve when the Argentine
forced a break point early in the third.
Kuerten, French Open champion in 1997 as well as last year,
will face Karim Alami of Morocco in the
third round.
"I think the experience I have gained here in the past has
helped me," Kuerten said. "It was special out there today. Paris
is like my second home."
Fourth seed Ferrero wasted no time in booking his
third-round place on Court Suzanne Lenglen, producing a ruthless
display to crush South African doubles specialist Ondruska in
only 99 minutes.
Ferrero, like Kuerten a winner of three claycourt titles
this year, dispelled any fitness worries with a powerful
performance.
"This was a very good start," he said. "I believe that I was
very strong throughout this match. I played a complete game
without any mistakes."
The two clay-court specialists were joined in the third round by
11th-seeded Briton Tim Henman, who crushed Dutchman Sjeng
Schalken 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, and No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was stretched to four sets by American
lucky loser Cecil Mamiit. Kafelnikov, who won the French Open in 1996 eventually won 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Two-time champion Sergi Bruguera, suffering from sunstroke,
retired from his second-round match against American Michael
Russell. Bruguera, who won at Roland Garros in 1993 and 1994, was
leading 6-4, 7-5, 3-6 when he abandoned the match.
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