Highest seed playing on Tuesday gets ousted on Day 2 in Houston

American qualifier Ryan Sweeting earned his first tour-level win of the 2010 season as he knocked out fifth-seeded Kazakhstani Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Tuesday afternoon at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Houston.

The 150th-ranked Sweeting converted on three of his six break point chances in the decisive set to close out the victory in one hour and 54 minutes. It was his first win on the ATP World Tour since July 2009, when he reached the second round at the LA Tennis Open.

Sweeting’s upset was a bright spot in a tough day for the American contingent, which saw two players withdraw prior to their first-round matches and two others retire due to injury.

American Mardy Fish withdrew due to the lingering effects of a sciatic nerve injury sustained in a fall last week at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, while No. 7 seed Michael Russell pulled out with a leg injury.

Fish, who won the Houston singles title in 2006, said: “I’m obviously extremely disappointed not being able to play here. I’ve had a lot of success at this tournament. I have great memories here. It’s a real bummer. From my point of view, the way I was hitting the ball, the way I feeling in Miami before I fell in the fourth round there, it’s a bummer not being able to play here.”

Fish was replaced in the main draw by Indian Somdev Devvarman, while Michael Yani took the place of countryman Russell. Yani lost to Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 7-5.

A pair of Argentines, No. 6 Horacio Zeballos and Juan Ignacio Chela, were the benefactors of injury retirements in their first-round matches. Zeballos led Taylor Dent 6-3 and Chela had established a 6-2, 3-0 lead against Rajeev Ram before their opponents respectively retired with hip and groin ailments.

American wild card Donald Young also fell at the first hurdle, dropping a 7-5, 6-3 decision to South African qualifier Kevin Anderson. Anderson conceded just three points behind his first serve.

Also Tuesday, Chilean Nicolas Massu advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over German Mischa Zverev and No. 7 seed Eduardo Schwank of Argentina defeated Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-3, 6-2.


Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Singles - First Round
[Q] R Sweeting (USA) d [5] E Korolev (KAZ) 63 46 62
[6] H Zeballos (ARG) d T Dent (USA) 63 ret. (hip)
[7] E Schwank (ARG) d M Daniel (BRA) 63 62
M Kukushkin (KAZ) d **[LL] M Yani (USA) 61 75
[Q] C Niland (IRL) vs *[LL] S Devvarman (IND)
N Massu (CHI) d M Zverev (GER) 64 62
[Q] K Anderson (RSA) d [WC] D Young (USA) 75 63
X Malisse (BEL) vs [Q] N Lindahl (AUS)
J Chela (ARG) d R Ram (USA) 62 30 ret. (groin)

*[LL] S Devvarman (IND) replaced M Fish (USA) - leg
**[LL] M Yani (USA) replaced [8] M Russell (USA) - leg