Courier back with a bang

STUTTGART GERMANY, OCT 27: Defending champion Richard Krajicek used his big serve to beat Chris Woodruff 6-4, 7-6 7-3 last evening an...

STUTTGART GERMANY, OCT 27: Defending champion Richard Krajicek used his big serve to beat Chris Woodruff 6-4, 7-6 7-3 last evening and advance to the third round of the 2.45 million Eurocard Open tennis tournament.

The eighth-seeded Dutchman gained the only break of serve, in the fifth game of the first set.

Jim Courier, refreshed after taking a month off the tour, came from behind to beat Marc Rosset and advanced to the second round. Courier, ranked No 41, won 4-6, 7-6 8-6, 6-2.

Seventh-seeded Nicolas Kiefer had to quit when he twisted his left ankle in the first set against Andrei Pavel in a second-round match. Magnus Larsson dropped out with a back injury, allowing fifth-seeded Greg Rusedski to advance to the third round. Three players have been forced to drop out of the tournament with injuries.

Another seeded player moved into the third round when No 13 Thomas Enqvist beat Michael Chang 6-4, 6-2.

Kournikova advances

LINZ, AUSTRIA: Russia8217;s Anna Kournikova beat Zimbabwe8217;s Cara Black 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Generali tennis tournament.

OTHER RESULTS

Anne-Gaelle Sidot France bt Anke Huber Germany 6-2, 6-3; Sandrine Testud France bt Barbara Rittner Germany 7-5, 6-2; Denisa Chladkova Czech Republic bt Patricia Wartusch Austria 6-3, 6-2; Patty Schnyder Switzerland bt Joanette Kruger South Africa 6-2, 6-1; Sandra Kleinova Czech Republic bt Maria-Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo Spain 6-0, 6-3.

Graf-Agassi steal show

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The disappointment about the injury of Nicolas Kiefer turned into amazement on Tuesday at the Eurocard Open when Kiefer8217;s mishap led to the first public appearance in Germany of the dream couple of Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

The retired Graf and world number 1 Agassi played on Centre Court for around 20 minutes before the evening session of the tournament in front of thrilled fans, who came streaming back into the hall from all areas of the compound so as not to miss the unique spectacle.

Graf and Agassi, whose romance became public after Agassi won the US Open last month, stole the show from the regular games because a doubles match by Kiefer and Agassi against Jan-Michael Gambill and Sjeng Schalken could not take place after Kiefer had to retire.