Top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov was ousted by Dominik Hrbaty as the big names continued to fall out of the Masters Series Monte Carlo tournament. Top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov was ousted by Dominik Hrbaty as the big names continued to fall out of the Masters Series Monte Carlo tournament.
Seeded players Thomas Enqvist, Tim Henman, Magnus Norman and Mariano Zabaleta also suffered second-round defeats. That means only three seeds – Alex Corretja, Albert Costa and Cedric Pioline – have qualified for the final 16.Kafelnikov’s game was littered with unforced errors – 53 in all – as the Slovak advanced with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory.Hrbaty, ranked 24 in the 12-month rankings, had won three of the players’ four previous meetings and in hot, dry conditions immediately took the match to his opponent.With Hrbaty serving at 4-3 in the second set, the big Russian looked set for a quick exit.But Kafelnikov clung on and began to hit the lines, winning six straight games to take the second set 7-5 and open up a 3-0 lead in the third.Then the former world no. 1 showed the brittle side of his game, losing five second-set games in succession before falling to defeat.Showing no signs of a recent injury, Richard Krajicek overpowered sixth-seeded Enqvist.The towering Dutchman, playing only his second event of the year, fired 19 aces and hit 30 winners in a 7-5, 6-1 victory.Krajicek, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after losing in the second round of the Australian Open in January, is delighted with his return from injury, having had only three weeks of practice before arriving in Monte Carlo.”So far it has been a perfect comeback,” the 1996 Wimbledon champion said. “I didn’t expect it to go so well.”"It is a bonus and a little bit of a surprise,” Krajicek said “Wimbledon and the U.S. Open are the two tournaments I am really looking at this year, the two slams on the surfaces I like.

If I get decent preparation maybe I can do something good at Wimbledon again.”Henman is another player looking forward to the grass court season.The British No. 7 seed saw his hopes of a good run on clay crumble with a disappointing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 defeat to 85th-ranked qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela.Another big name to fall was third-seeded Magnus Norman, who lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to Karim Alami of Morocco.With the likes of Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter and Nicolas Kiefer all absent, the Monte Carlo event is already without most of the game’s top stars.Still, Corretja was in sparkling form during a 6-0, 6-4 win against Fabrice Santoro of France.After his surprise win at Indian Wells, the Spaniard is emerging as one of the favorites to win a second Masters Series event at Monte Carlo.No. 12 seed Costa recovered from a poor start to beat France’s Jerome Golmard, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.Pioline, seeded 8, came through safely against the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak, 6-4, 6-3, but No.15 seed Zabaleta was beaten by Arnaud Clement, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 7-5.Franco Squillari and Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands and Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero were among other players who advanced to the last 16 of the £1.6 million event.. Tim Henman blamed his lack of aggression late in the match against Argentinian qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela for his failure to reach the third round at the Monte Carlo Open today. Tim Henman blamed his lack of aggression late in the match against Argentinian qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela for his failure to reach the third round at the Monte Carlo Open today.
Henman, who trailed 6-2 4-2 in the Masters-Series clash, battled back and captured seven of the next eight games but then lost his momentum, and eventually the match, 6-2 4-6 6-3.”From the situation that I got into, there was no doubt that I should have won the match,” Henman said.”I was getting the balance right of being aggressive and not making those unforced errors.”I felt like he was obviously dominating things to begin with, but it turned round quickly from 4-2 game point down and I won seven of the next eight games to be up 3-1.”Then I get the breakpoint and miss a passing shot by just a little bit.”From 3-1, 20-year-old Chela won four games on the bounce, and although Henman fought back to break and bring the match back onto serve, he failed to hold his own serve as Chela clinched one of the best results of his short career.”With the way I am playing on all other surfaces I am capable of dominating players, and obviously for the seven games that I played better, I can dominate players on clay.”But the problem I have is when that level drops a fraction to keep playing aggressively. If that consistency isn’t quite there, then it is very difficult.”I do find it difficult to turn things around, but I am definitely capable because I got back into a winning situation.”Henman’s exit ends British interest at the last 32 stage of the £1.5million event, with Greg Rusedski defeated in the first round by Czech Slava Dosedel.Chela, ranked 35th in the Champions Race, has played only on clay this year. His Mexico City title in February and his victory over Henman suggests he is more than capable of winning matches at Roland Garros.Another early casualty on the third day was Swedish sixth seed Thomas Enqvist, beaten 7-5 6-1 by fit-again Dutchman Richard Krajicek, contesting his first tournament since the Australian Open.South African Wayne Ferreira, a shock first round winner against Australian powerhouse Mark Philippoussis, also fell at the second stage, beaten 5-7 6-4 6-3 by Norwegian Christian Ruud.Spaniard Alex Corretja looks a good title bet after crushing Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-0 6-4.RESULTSGaston Gaudio (Argentina) beat Felix Mantilla (Spain) 6-3 7-5 Slava Dosedel (Czech Republic) beat Nicolas Escude (France) 6-0 6-2 8-Cedric Pioline (France) beat Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-3 12-Albert Costa (Spain) beat Jerome Golmard (France) 2-6 6-4 6-2 9-Alex Corretja (Spain) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-0 6-4 Franco Squillari (Argentina) beat Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) 6-2 6-4 Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Hicham Arazi (Morocco) 6-0 6-3 Christian Ruud (Norway) beat Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) 5-7 6-4 6-3 Karim Alami (Morocco) beat 3-Magnus Norman (Sweden) 6-3 3-6 6-1 Juan Igancio Chela (Argentina) beat 7-Tim Henman (Britain) 6-2 4-6 6-3 Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) beat 6-Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 7-5 6-1.

The clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club have not been dimpled by a British men’s singles champion since Bunny Austin’s triumphs in 1933 and 1934. However, Tim Henman took a small step in the right direction yesterday, ending 19 years of embarrassment by becoming the first British man to win a singles match here since Buster Mottram in 1981. The clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club have not been dimpled by a British men’s singles champion since Bunny Austin’s triumphs in 1933 and 1934. However, Tim Henman took a small step in the right direction yesterday, ending 19 years of embarrassment by becoming the first British man to win a singles match here since Buster Mottram in 1981.
Henman, who won the Monte Carlo Open doubles title last year with the Frenchman Olivier Delaitre, defeated Marc Rosset, the Swiss gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the second round. The British No 1’s next opponent is Juan Ignacio Chela, a 20-year-old Argentinian qualifier who learned to play on slow surfaces similar to the courts here and is good enough to have won the Mexico City tournament in February, defeating Gustavo Kuerten in the second round.Chela is likely to prove a more awkward opponent than Rosset, if only in the sense that he is a natural on clay.

Few competitors on the ATP Tour are more difficult (as in cussed) than Rosset, a gangling 6ft 7in with the sartorial style of Wurzel Gummidge and the patience of Basil Fawlty.Henman knows Rosset well enough – having lost two of their three previous singles matches and partnered him in doubles – not to allow himself to be distracted by his antics, some of which would have left less serious opponents doubled up on the court, helpless with laughter. Warned for verbal abuse at the start of the second set, and then penalised a point for slamming his racket to the ground, Rosset treated the spectators on Court No 1 to a temper tantrum worthy of Donald Duck. He removed his cap, threw it to the ground, and trampled it into the clay.Shortly before that, Rosset had a conversation on the court with Tom Barnes, the ATP Tour supervisor, in which he told the official that he was under the impression that the code of conduct rules had been relaxed this year to allow players to express themselves.Henman sympathised with Rosset, at least in the case of his second offence. “I thought he was pretty unlucky with his racket abuse, because the racket didn’t break and didn’t endanger anyone, so to get a point penalty was harsh,” Henman said. “But, from my point of view, having just broken serve, to start the [next] game at 15-love is a very nice cushion to have. I wasn’t going to complain.”Rosset has lost four consecutive opening-round matches since defeating Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final of the AXA Cup at the London Arena in February “He’s unpredictable,” Henman said. “Sometimes I don’t know whether he quite knows what is going to happen.