MONTREAL, 8 August 2003 — Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt was ousted from the Montreal Masters Series 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 by the powerful serving Max Mirnyi in a laborious match on Wednesday.
World number 32 Mirnyi of Belarus never lost his calm against fifth-seed Hewitt in the second round match.
“I was confident because when you find yourself in a three-set situation with a top player, it’s an indication you are doing something well,” said Mirnyi, who won his first title earlier this year in Rotterdam. Hewitt said he was overwhelmed by the serves and volleys of his 26 year-old opponent.
Mirnyi will face Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan in the third round after the 11th seed beat Canada’s Daniel Nestor 7-5, 6-4.
Wildcard Simon Larose, the only Canadian left in the event, continued his winning form with a 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Argentina’s Jose Acasuso.
Andre Agassi has yet to drop a set in Montreal but had an early scare against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko.
Davydenko served on a set point, but the American fended it off and then cruised to a 7-6, 6-2 win. Second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero strolled into the third round with a swift 6-3, 6-4 win over Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui.
Ferrero, a clay specialist, said he needed only a couple of days of practise to get used to Montreal’s hard court. His last tournament on the surface was in the Miami Masters in March. He next meets Slovakia’s Karol Kucera, who edged out Netherland’s 15th seed Martin Verkerk 7-6, 7-6.
Third seed Roger Federer saw off Britain’s Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-3 and the Swiss will now face Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who made short work of Zimbabwe’s Wayne Black 6-0, 6-2
Britain’s Tim Henman lost 6-4, 6-4 to Argentina’s David Nalbandian who will play American Vincent Spadea, winner against France’s Arnaud Clement 6-0, 6-7, 7-5.
France’s only remaining hope, ninth seed Sebastien Grosjean, won a baseline battle against Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado 6-3, 6-2.
Grosjean next meets sixth seed Andy Roddick, who defeated Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6, 6-2.
Clijsters Cruises Into Third Round, Dokic Beaten
In Los Angeles, top seed Kim Clijsters continued her solid play through the summer hardcourt season with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 victory over France’s Emilie Loit in the second round of the JP Morgan Chase Open on Wednesday.
In stark contrast to Clijsters, fifth seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslvia remains mired in a run of poor form and was beaten 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 by Russian prospect Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Other seeds fared better, however, including three-time champion and number two here Lindsay Davenport, who wasted little time handing out a 6-3, 6-1 thrashing to Austria’s Barbara Schett.
Eighth seed Amanda Coetzer, number 10 Meghann Shaughnessy and number 16 Francesca Schiavone also advanced to the last 16. Two other players scored upset victories, with Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual defeating ninth seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 and Australia’s Nicole Pratt edging out 12th seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
Fourteen-year-old Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine continued a dream start to her career when she moved into the third round of her first event on the WTA Tour after her opponent, Alexandra Stevenson, retired with a right shoulder strain.
Kutuzova, who led 6-3, 3-3 when the 15th seeded American withdrew, was to face fourth seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan yesterday.
