Hamburg, May 12: Second seed Guillermo Coria has trouble with teenager at Hamburg Masters.
Defending champion Guillermo Coria survived a scare in his opening match at the Hamburg Masters on Monday (May10) before overcoming Spanish teenager Nicolas Almagro 3-6 6-4 7-5. Qualifier Almagro, 18, challenged the second seed for more than two hours and served to force a tiebreak in the final set before bowing out in the first round. Argentine Coria, returning to action after fitness worries, looked rusty and nervous, particularly in the last set when he was broken when serving for victory. Almagro, who had the fans on his side after a superb fight, remained in contention until handing Coria two match points by hitting a forehand long.


The Spaniard, who is way outside the top 100 in the ATP rankings, saved the first with a service winner, but sent a forehand wide on the second.


Coria, the number two seed, had been nursing abdominal pain and was playing his first match since winning last month's Monte Carlo Masters.

Bureau Report