Vienna, Oct 07: Former champion Tim Henman of Britain cruised through the first round of the CA tennis trophy defeating Italian veteran Stefano Pescosolido 6-2 6-3.
Henman, the winner here in 2000, easily overcame Pescosolido, who seemed tired after going two previous rounds to qualify for the main draw.
Fourth-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands defeated German qualifier Alexander Waske 4-6 6-1 6-2 in his tournament opener yesterday. After playing a faulty first set, the Dutchman settled and left Waske chanceless, capitalizing on his hammering serve.
In an upset, Finland's Jarkko Nieminen ousted the favoured Karol Kucera 7-6 (7/4) 6-0 in their first ever meeting.
Despite support from more than 500 fans who traveled to Vienna from neighboring Slovakia, Kucera, a 1998 finalist at the CA trophy, never came back into the match after losing the first set tiebreaker.



Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman advanced after beating Italian qualifier Fillipo Volandri 6-1 6-4. In late action, no. 6 seed Tommy Robredo of Spain unexpectedly went down in a three-set thriller to local hero Jurgen Melzer 2-6 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7) after two hours and 20 minutes of play.



No. 7 seed Nicolas Massu of Chile also dropped out in the first round, losing 5-7 6-7 (4/7) to Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.


Bureau Report