llie makes heavy weather of win

Ilie is reckoned to be one of the hottest of upcoming players on the Tour, having jumped 414 places in 1998 to move from 473 to 51. Currently, he is ranked 41 which in itself should testify to his meteoric rise in the highly competitive professional tennis.

However, there were moments on Monday when Ilie looked vulnerable, not because ofany extraordinary tennis from Van Scheppingen, but mostly due to his own inconsistency and lapses in concentration. Ilie briefly lost his way in the second set as double-faults crept into his game even as he refused to hold anything back.

A couple of line calls had him fretting and fuming while the Dutchman, ranked 145, came surging back into the match with a series of lovely winners which, however, he could not sustain with a degree of consistency. Ilie was also distracted by the premature release of the balloons that were meant to mark the formal inauguration which was held immediately after the match.

But then, there was no doubting Ilie’s talent which this year saw him reach semifinals at Dubai apart from a couple of good results in the United States. He served with great power and direction, apart from thumping returns.

Ilie began fluently enough, firing some huge groundstrokes that brooked no reply from the Dutchman. With one break of serve in the very first game, Ilie took the first set quiteconvincingly after surviving a brief hiccup in the seventh game when he survived a breakpoint after committing the first of his six double-faults. Quite typically, he took the game with an ace, the contrast in his serving pattern showing up like a sore thumb.

In the second set, Ilie yet again broke Scheppingen in the first game, but turned wayward. Scheppingen, helped by another Ilie double-fault, broke a second time for a 3-1 lead, and then, the games went to serve as the Dutchman took the set to draw level.

The decider witnessed some entertaining tennis as Ilie began with a string of blazing winners and broke his opponent in the second, fourth and sixth games to wrap up the match. Scheppingen made his presence felt with the shot of the match, a brilliant backhand crosscourt pass after Ilie had sent him scurrying to the corner with a deep volley.

TILLSTROM ADVANCES: Later, 1997 winner, Swede Mikael Tillstrom overcame Bulgarian Orlin Stanoytchev 6-4, 6-4 while eighth seed John van Lottum(Holland) defeated Jens Knippschild (US) to advance to the second round.

Vincenzo Santopadre (Italy) also moved into the second round, getting the better of Geoff Grant (US) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Wild card entrant Jonathan Stark of the United States edged past Frenchman Nicolas Escuide 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 in the last match of the day.