Muster ousted

ROSMALEN, June 18: Karim Alami of Morocco eliminated Austria's fading former world number one Thomas Muster from the ATP tournament here to...

ROSMALEN, June 18: Karim Alami of Morocco eliminated Austria8217;s fading former world number one Thomas Muster from the ATP tournament here today, and fifth seed Marc Rosset of Switzerland exited soon after.

The 24-year-old Alami, who became the first Moroccan to win an ATP title when he captured the Atlanta tournament last year, beat Muster, 29, 6-4, 6-2.Rosset, the 1992 Olympic champion, crashed out to Martin Damm of the Czech Republic also in straight sets 1-6, 6-7 5/7.

Defending champion Richey Reneberg, 31, was another casualty forced to retire from his match, suffering from tendinitis in his left knee, with Damm8217;s compatriot Daniel Vacek when he trailed 5-7, 0-1.

Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, who won this title in 1994, banged down 20 aces as he beat compatriot Paul Haarhuis 7-5, 7-6 7/4 in 87 minutes.

Top seed Michael Chang, who lost in the second round at Queen8217;s last week, came through in three sets over the 57th ranked Frenchman Fabrice Santoro while Sweden8217;s Jonas Bjorkman, seeded fourth, also needed three sets to dispose of the Czech Republic8217;s Jan Kroslak.

Grass lesson for Kuerten

NOTTINGHAM: Canadian born British number two Greg Rusedski handed out a grass court lesson to French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 6-1, 7-5 in the Nottingham men8217;s tournament here yesterday.

The 23-year-old Rusedski, drawn to meet Queen8217;s club champion Mark Philippoussis in the first round of Wimbledon next week, eased through the first set in just 18 minutes, losing only three points on his fiercesome serve against the Brazilian who was playing his first match ever on grass.

Tauziat stops Williams

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EASTBOURNE: Venus Williams, the spectacular 6ft 2in American teenager who is preparing to make her Wimbledon debut, crashed out of the WTA event at Eastbourne today when she was eaten in the second-round by experienced French campaigner Nathalie Tauziat.

Tauziat scored a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory and now plays either third-seeded French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia or Natasha Zvereva of Belarus for a place in the semi-finals.