Philippoussis knocked out

Rainer Schuettler held off an erratic Mark Philippoussis to reach the second round of the Indianapolis Open with a 7-6, 7-6 victory on Monda...

Rainer Schuettler held off an erratic Mark Philippoussis to reach the second round of the Indianapolis Open with a 7-6, 7-6 victory on Monday.

Philippoussis had his opportunities against the ninth seeded German breaking to lead 5-4 in the second but he made far too many unforced errors, often blasting the ball instead of waiting for his opening.

8220;I made too many unforced errors, and it8217;s a shame because the atmosphere was great out there,8221; said Philippoussis.

8220;It was weird. I could not really find the court on my groundstrokes. I was everywhere and I was coming in to just try and make something work.8221;

In other matches involving seeded players, only Croatia8217;s 12th seeded Ivan Ljubicic failed to advance, losing to Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4.

Romanian 11th seed Andrei Pavel was tested by American Jeff Morrison, before he took control in the third set by sweeping the first four games on his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory while 13th seed Michel Kratochvil, 14th seed Greg Rusedski and 16th seed Fabrice Santoro all cruised to first round victories.

Kratochvil overwhelmed qualifier Emin Agaev of Azerbaijan 6-0, 6-2, Rusedski won a close battle with Albert Montanes 7-6, 6-4, and Santoro eased past Israel8217;s Harel Levy 6-2, 6-2.

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Rusedski, who could meet top seed and World Number One Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, raised his game at the crucial stages to overcome his Spanish opponent.

The first set went with serve before Rusedski found himself down 3-0 in the tie-break. After pulling level he launched himself at the net at 5-4 to force an error from Montanes to earn two set points.

In the second set, a blistering return down the line off a second serve earned him the only break of the match and a 4-3 lead that he held on to.

8220;I felt like I was serving very well in the first set, but I was missing some forehands,8221; said Rusedski. 8220;In the second set I just started to get into the ball and get a little bit of range.8221;

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In other matches, Magnus Norman earned a meeting with third seed Tommy Haas by edging past young American Robby Ginepri, while Alberto Martin outlasted Magnus Larsson in a 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 win. Reuters