Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu stunned third-seeded American Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the 2.45 million dollar ATP Montreal Masters Series event on Tuesday. Roddick, who claimed his lone Grand Slam at the US Open two years ago, had won 18 of his past 20 matches, including a triumph over fellow American James Blake in the ATP Washington tournament on Sunday.
The 2003 Montreal winner and the runner-up last year, Roddick was broken in the 12th game to lose the first set and again in the second game of the second set.
He had two break points to get back on serve in the fifth game but could not convert either, and Mathieu, who is ranked 63rd in the world, held.
Mathieu, who had been 0-8 against top-10 opponents this year, posted one of the biggest wins of his career since turning pro in 1999. He will meet compatriot Arnaud Clement in the second round.
A qualifier, Clement rallied past Argentine Jose Acasuso 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Earlier Tuesday, a case of gastro-enteritis made Lleyton Hewitt's stay in Montreal a short one.
The second-seeded Australian was trailing French qualifier Florent Serra in the first set, 4-3, when he was forced to retire from the first-round match due to stomach pain. It was the second time in 504 career singles matches that Hewitt retired in a match.
Nadal, the 19-year-old claycourt master who won his first major at this year's French Open, was facing another Grand Slam champion in Moya, who won at Roland Garros in 1998.
RESULTS (X DENOTES SEED):
(FIRST ROUND): Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Andy Roddick (USA x3) 7-5, 6-3;
Florent Serra (FRA) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x2) 4-3 retired; Younes El-Aynaoui (MAR) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3; Robin Soderling (SWE) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE x14) 6-3, 6-4; Nicolas Kiefer (GER) bt Nicolas Massu (CHI) 6-3, 6-2; Taylor Dent (USA) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO x13) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 6-1, 6-3; Jiri Novak (CZE) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1; Thomas Johansson (SWE x12) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-1, 7-5
Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Carlos Moya (ESP) 6-3, 6-7 (0/7), 6-3; J Ferrero (ESP) d (7)G Coria (ARG) 63 62 Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-2; Xavier Malisse (BEL) bt Frank Dancevic (CAN) 6-2, 6-2; Arnaud Clement (FRA) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; David Ferrer (ESP) bt Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) bt Guillermo Coria (ARG x7) 6-3, 6-2.
Comments
Comments are closed.