Kuerten comes down on clay

PARIS, May 29: Russian underdog Marat Safin caused another sensation when he defeated defending champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in a five...

PARIS, May 29: Russian underdog Marat Safin caused another sensation when he defeated defending champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in a five-set thriller on a sun-drenched centre-court. The 116th-ranked 18-year-old, who is based in Spain, put out American Andre Agassi in the previous round. This time Safin came through 3-6, 7-6 7/5, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 against the eighth-seeded Kuerten in two hours 47 minutes. He now plays Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, who put out Jan-Michael Gambill of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 7/0.

Kuerten was the second men8217;s seed to be beaten on Friday. Earlier Patrick Rafter, the No.4, went out to fellow-Australian Jason Stoltenberg 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and now plays Magnus Gustafsson for a place in the last-sixteen. The experienced Swede beat David Prinosil of Germany 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 9/11, 6-1.

So far eight of the 16 men8217;s seeds have failed to survive the first week at the Championships. The others to disappear have been Pete Sampras, Karol Kucera, Jonas Bjorkman, GregRusedski, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Petr Korda.

And the stamina-sapping Roland Garros red clay claimed two more victims when South African Wayne Ferreira twisted his ankle and Dutch qualifier Johan Van Lottum retired with a strained thigh muscle. Ferreira was trailing title favourite Marcelo Rios 1-6, 3-3 when he fell heavily trying to chase down a deep shot from the third-seeded South American.

He was clearly in severe pain and unable to continue, putting the Chilean in to a fourth-round clash against either 13th-seeded Albert Costa or Bohdan Ulirach of the Czech Republic. Van Lottum, who had felt twinges of pain from his thigh in his surprise first-round victory over compatriot Jan Siemerink, pulled up in his second-round match against 1989 champion Michael Chang. Chang, who was leading 7-5, 6-2, 3-0 at the time, now plays either Frenchman Olivier Delaitre or Francisco Clavet for a place in the last 16.

In other second-round matches, held over because of the rain delays of the last 48 hours, 16th-seedAlberto Berasategui outplayed Frenchman Gerard Solves. Berasategui, a finalist in 1994, scored a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win and now plays Dominik Hrbaty of the Czech Republic for a fourth-round berth. Hrbaty overwhelmed Javier Viloca of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

MAJOLI SETTLES SCORE: Defending champion Iva Majoli notched up a revenge victory over Natasha Zevereva of Belarus. The 19-year-old from Zagreb reached the third-round with a 6-3, 6-4 win in just over an hour.

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Completing the women8217;s second-round matches, the in-form Patty Schynder of Switzerland defeated France8217;s Julie Halard-Decugis and now plays Silvia Farina of Italy. Schynder outlasted Halard-Decugis 6-3, 3 -6, 6-1.

HOW THE SEEDS FARED

Men8217;s singles 2nd round: Jason Stoltenberg Australia bt 4-Patrick Rafter Australia 6-4 2-6 6-3 6-2, Thomas Enqvist Sweden bt 6-Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia 4-6 7-6 12-10 7-6 7-4 6-1, Marat Safin Russia bt 8-Gustavo Kuerten Brazil 3-6 7-6 7-5 3-6 6-1 6-4, 11-Michael Chang US bt John vanLottum Netherlands 7-5 6-2 3-0 retired injured, 14-Alex Corretja Spain bt Fernando Vicente Spain 6-3 6-2 6-3, 16-Alberto Berasategui Spain bt Gerard Solves France 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4.

3rd round: 3-Marcelo Rios Chile bt Wayne Ferreira South Africa 6-1 3-3 retired injured

Women8217;s singles 2nd round: 2-Lindsay Davenport US bt Liezel Horn South Africa 6-2 6-0, 4-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario Spain bt Catalina Cristea Romania 6-2 6-3, 7-Conchita Martinez Spain bt Rita Grande Italy 6-1 6-2, Magui Serna Spain bt 11-Mary Pierce France 7-5 6-2, 13-Anna Kournikova Russia bt Katarina Studenikova Slovakia 6-2 7-6 7-2, 14-Sandrine Testud France bt Elena Wagner Germany 6-2 6-0, 15-Dominique van Roost Belgium bt Els Callens Belgium 6-3 6-0.

THE OTHER RESULTS

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Men8217;s singles 2nd round: Hicham Arazi Morocco bt Nicolas Escude France 6-3 6-4 6-2, Richard Krajicek Netherlands bt Rodolphe Gilbert France 7-5 6-4 6-1, Cedric Pioline France bt Julien BoutterFrance 7-5 6-0 3-6 6-4, Fabrice Santoro France bt Lucas Arnold Argentina 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-0 6-3, Mariano Zabaleta Argentina bt Jeff Tarango US 6-0 6-2 6-2, Andrew Ilie Australia bt Mikael Tillstrom Sweden 6-7 9-11 6-3 6-3 6-4, Christope van Garsse Belgium bt Scott Drapper Australia 6-3 3-6 6-7 5-7 7-6 7-2 6-2, Sargis Sargsian Armenia bt Andrea Gaudenzi Italy 6-4 6-2 6-7 5-7 6-4, Dominik Hrbaty Slovakia bt Juan Albert Viloca Spain 6-3 6-3 6-3, Hernan Gumy Argentina bt Gianluca Pozzi Italy 6-2 6-3 3-6 5-7 11-9, Magnus Gustafsson Sweden bt David Prinosil Germany 6-4 6-3 6-7 9-11 6-1, Daniel Vacek Czech Republic bt Jan-Michael Gambil US 6-4 2-6 7-5 7-6 7-0, Francisco Clavet Spain bt Olivier Delaitre France 6-2 6-4 6-7 4-7 6-1.

Women8217;s singles 2nd round: Joanette Kruger South Africa v Silvia Farina Italy 6-4 3-6 bad light stopped play, Serene Williams US bt Corina Morariu US 6-1 6-0, Gala Leon Garcia Spain bt Paola Suarez Argentina 6-2 1-67-5, Ruxandra Dragomir Romania bt Flora Perfetti Italy 6-0 6-2, Virginia Ruano-Pascual Spain bt Anne-Gaelle Sidot France 6-4 7-6 8-6, Alexandra Fusai France bt Tara Snyder US 6-4 6-3, Elena Likhovatseva Russia bt Cara Black Zimbabwe 7-5 7-5, Miho Saeki Japan bt Laurence Andreto France 6-1 7-6 7-5, Henrieta Nagyova Slovakia bt Sylvia Plischke Austria 6-4 6-3, Chanda Rubin US bt Tatiana Panova Russia 6-1 6-1, Asa Carlsson Sweden bt Sonya Jeyaseelan Canada 6-4 6-0, Nathalie Dechy France bt Ann Wunderlich US 6-1 6-1.