Hamburg Masters: Youzhny knocked out

Hamburg Masters: Youzhny knocked out
Mikhail Youzhny

Youzhny suffered his third consecutive first-round loss. (Action Images / Ahmed Jadallah)

Tuesday May 13, 2008
HAMBURG - Mikhail Youzhny crashed out of the ATP Masters Series Hamburg after losing 6-3 6-2 to unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

The 10th seed was the highest seeded player in action on the tournament's opening day but suffered his third consecutive first-round loss.

Verdasco, who blasted six aces during the 77-minute match, will next face Michael Llodra of France.

Playing on home soil, unseeded Nicolas Kiefer delighted fans with the day's second upset, knocking out 16th-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-4.

Things went far better for 12th seed Juan Monaco, who advanced when Filippo Volandri of Italy retired with a knee injury while trailing 6-1 4-0.

Andy Murray, the 15th seed, also had a relatively easy time during his 6-4 6-1 victory over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.

The Scot, who saved all three break points faced during the match, entered this event having won just three times on clay this season.

"I served very well," Murray said. "In the first set I was trying to find the balance, when to play aggressive, when to play defensive. In the second set it was much better. Overall it

was a very good match."

Fourteenth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did not have it quite so easy as he overcame an ugly first set to claim a 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 triumph over fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

The Australian Open runner-up won just 12 of 40 points in the opening set, but battled back to win 33 of 39 points on first serve in the second and third sets.

"I am not that experienced on red clay so I am very happy to have won this match," Tsonga said. "I never remember lost sets like the first one, I only remember that I have won the entire match in the end."

A finalist here in 2000 and 2002, unseeded Russian Marat Safin posted a 7-5 6-2 triumph over Marin

Cilic.

Unseeded Andreas Seppi, Albert Montanes, Simone Bolelli, Ivo Minar, Olivier Rochus and Juan Ignacio Chela are also all through the second round.

The top eight seeds here, including defending champion and world number one Roger Federer, have received first-round byes.

Federer has won this tournament four times in the past six years, including last season when he beat clay court specialist Rafael Nadal.