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Only two seeds left in second round of Marseille Open
Marseille, France, Feb 13: Top seed Roger Federer and crowd favourite Sebastien Grosjean, hoping to meet in a Davis Cup dress rehearsal in the semi-finals, were the only seeds to reach the second round of the Marseille Open.
Marseille, France, Feb 13: Top seed Roger Federer and crowd favourite Sebastien Grosjean, hoping to meet in a Davis Cup dress rehearsal in the semi-finals, were the only seeds to reach the second round of the Marseille Open.
Federer, topping the bill for the second time this season, needed only a set -- which he won in the tie-break -- before his opponent, Croat Ivan Ljubicic, pulled out injured.
Like the rest of the field, the Swiss said he felt a little worn out after Davis Cup world group first-round matches at the weekend. Switzerland narrowly beat the Netherlands 3-2.
''Physically, I'm a little tired. I'm not on the balls too much, especially from the baseline,'' he said.
Grosjean, who was born in Marseille, also felt a little weary after leading France to a 4-1 victory over Romania at the weekend.
But he said he was still keen to win his home town tournament.
''The level of play is high here. You could tell by seeing the results today,'' he said after his 6-2 6-1 demolition of Spaniard Alex Calatrava.
''Like in all the French tournaments, I want to shine – probably even more so here as it's the place where I started,'' he added.
Switzerland and France meet in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in April and Grosjean revealed the clash would be held on hardcourt.
His Davis Cup partner Nicolas Escude destroyed second-seeded Czech Jiri Novak 6-2 6-1. Novak also lost some strength in a lost Davis Cup match against Russia at the weekend.
Like Grosjean, Escude, who lost the final to Swede Thomas Enqvist last year, said he had high ambitions in the tournament.
''I'd like to go a step further this year. A lot of seeds crashed out. It's not good for the tournament, but it's good for me,'' he said.
In their title quest, Federer and the Frenchmen have lost most of their rivals.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who beat Grosjean in the tournament's final two years ago, was beaten 7-6 6-4 by Belgian Olivier Rochus.
A shadow of his former self in recent months, the former world number one recently claimed he was ''still a champion'' but it did not show on court.
Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui, seeded fifth, was again unable to repeat his Australian Open performance.
Beaten in the first round in Milan in his first match since his epic quarter-final against Andy Roddick in Melbourne, the Moroccan lost in just an hour to Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-4.
Eighth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain also crashed out but against one of the most dangerous players on the circuit on a good day, Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who won 7-6 1-6 7-6.
Seventh-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro was also beaten while Australian Open finalist Ranier Schuettler of Germany pulled out without playing.
Bureau Report
Like the rest of the field, the Swiss said he felt a little worn out after Davis Cup world group first-round matches at the weekend. Switzerland narrowly beat the Netherlands 3-2.
''Physically, I'm a little tired. I'm not on the balls too much, especially from the baseline,'' he said.
Grosjean, who was born in Marseille, also felt a little weary after leading France to a 4-1 victory over Romania at the weekend.
But he said he was still keen to win his home town tournament.
''The level of play is high here. You could tell by seeing the results today,'' he said after his 6-2 6-1 demolition of Spaniard Alex Calatrava.
''Like in all the French tournaments, I want to shine – probably even more so here as it's the place where I started,'' he added.
Switzerland and France meet in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in April and Grosjean revealed the clash would be held on hardcourt.
His Davis Cup partner Nicolas Escude destroyed second-seeded Czech Jiri Novak 6-2 6-1. Novak also lost some strength in a lost Davis Cup match against Russia at the weekend.
Like Grosjean, Escude, who lost the final to Swede Thomas Enqvist last year, said he had high ambitions in the tournament.
''I'd like to go a step further this year. A lot of seeds crashed out. It's not good for the tournament, but it's good for me,'' he said.
In their title quest, Federer and the Frenchmen have lost most of their rivals.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who beat Grosjean in the tournament's final two years ago, was beaten 7-6 6-4 by Belgian Olivier Rochus.
A shadow of his former self in recent months, the former world number one recently claimed he was ''still a champion'' but it did not show on court.
Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui, seeded fifth, was again unable to repeat his Australian Open performance.
Beaten in the first round in Milan in his first match since his epic quarter-final against Andy Roddick in Melbourne, the Moroccan lost in just an hour to Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-4.
Eighth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain also crashed out but against one of the most dangerous players on the circuit on a good day, Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who won 7-6 1-6 7-6.
Seventh-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro was also beaten while Australian Open finalist Ranier Schuettler of Germany pulled out without playing.
Bureau Report