BASTAD, Sweden --
Top-seeded Magnus Norman, playing his first competitive match since May,
made an impressive comeback Tuesday and defeated Mariano Puerta 6-2, 6-1
in the first round of the Swedish Open.
The defending champion dominated the 140th-ranked
Argentine.
"It's wonderful to be back on court and
finally win a match," said Norman, who has not won since the first
round at the Hamburg Masters Series two months ago.
Norman, a finalist at the French Open last year
and briefly leader of the ATP Champions' Race, lost in the first round of
this year's French and then withdrew from Wimbledon because of a hip
injury.
"I felt just fine today and I was able to
play at 100 percent," he said. "Honestly, I didn't think it
would be so easy. But he didn't have his best day."
Next up for Norman is Andrew Ilie of Australia,
who toppled former top-10 player Magnus Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Larsson, who made the third round in both the
French Open and Wimbledon this year, was broken at the start of the
decisive set after taking a 30-0 lead with serve.
"If I had managed to hold my serve, the
match would probably have ended differently," Larsson said.
In other first-round matches, sixth-seeded Michal
Tabara of the Czech Republic beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-7 (10),
6-4, 6-4; Christophe Rochus of Belgium downed eighth-seeded Fernando
Vicente of Spain, 7-5, 6-2; Tommy Robredo of Spain defeated Nicolas Massu
of Chile, 6-3, 6-4; Jose Acasuso of Argentina beat David Sanchez of Spain,
6-3, 6-2 and Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy beat Galo Blanco of Spain, 6-3, 6-1.
