Scud Kafelnikov a dud; Black out; Moya off

Elsewhere, the Zimbabwaen Black, appearing rusty and way below his best, went down to qualifier Jamie Delgado of Great Britain, 2-6, 6-7 (4).

Moya, the Spaniard who briefly held the No 1 ranking last year, was replaced by `lucky loser’ Thomas Ketola of Finland. Also getting an entry in the main draw was Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic, who came in for an injured compatriot Ulihrach Bohdan. Vanek capitalised on the break to record a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yaoki Ishii.

The Paes-Boutter featured match of the day turned down tobe rather tame except in patches, when the Indian brought off some great volleys and returns. Overall, it turned out to be a typical first rounder, one that either shows up a player’s rustiness coming out of hibernation, or is a useful tune-up for bigger battles ahead.

Paes would have been happy for the workout. The six-footer Boutter, ranked in the 140s, packed quite a punch in his serves but was far too inconsistent with returns. A couple of double-faults in crunch situations, particularly when serving 6-6 in the tie-break, let him down.

Despite the inconsistent serves, Paes played well enough in the first set when he broke Boutter in the opening game to take the set 6-4. The second set witnessed some fine returns by both players. But Paes, in particular, displayed lovely touch at the net which he commanded with soft hands. He made few mistakes in the front court, but it was a different tale from the back.

Boutter blew several chances in the second set when he broke Paes in the eighth for a 5-3 lead.However, in the ninth, Paes saved two set points and broke back on the second game point with terrific volleys and low returns that had Boutter bending low to reach. Paes then held serve to make it 5-5.

The next two games went to serve to force the tie-breaker. Paes, with a mini break, led 3-0 and 5-3. But Boutter fought back to 6-6, saving two matchpoints in the process. At this juncture, the Frenchman served his second double-fault of the match to give Paes a 7-6 advantage. Paes came up with a deep serve and followed it up with a crisp crosscourt volley for the match.

BLACK DISAPPOINTS: On the outside court, Black appeared all at sea against an inspired British Davis Cupper Delgado who had come through the qualifying round. The Britisher, ranked 160, as against Black’s 95, with an early break of serve, dominated the first set which he took with a fair measure of comfort.

The second set witnessed two breaks of serve in the fifth and sixth games and thereafter, the tie-breaker seemed inevitable.Under pressure, Black committed several uncharacteristic errors that helped Delgado, who had lost to Paes in the recent Jaipur Challenger finals, to scramble through to the second round.

After the match, Black said he was rather rusty after a season-ending layoff. “I had my chances in the second set. If I could have got through this sort of a match, it would have given me the confidence for the rest of the tournament,” said Black.

Incidentally, Black had beaten Delgado in a Davis Cup encounter, but remarked that the Britisher had improved greatly since that first encounter.

Results: Singles (1st round): Leander Paes (Ind) bt Julien Boutter (Fra) 6-4 7-6 (6); Jamie Delgado (GBr) bt 5-Byron Black (Zim) 6-2, 7-6 (4); Jiri Vanek (Cze) bt Yaoki Ishii (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4.