At the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles on Monday, Greg
Rusedski defeated Thailand's No. 1 Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 7-6, Michael
Chang beat Israel's Noam Behr 6-2, 7-5, and no. 7 seed Magnus Norman,
had a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win against local favorite Cecil Mamiit to go
through to round two
Last year in LA, Michael Chang claimed his 34th career ATP title after
Jan-Michael Gambill had to retire after the second set with a sprained
right ankle.
The 29-year-old had a promising start against
Behr, only
wavering slightly in the second set. Chang will continue his bid to
reach his sixth LA final in 11 tries, in Wednesday’s second round.
Despite it being Norman’s first time at LA, he was
able to get past Mamiit and his home-crowd supporters with ease. The
Swede was a finalist at the French Open last year but is yet to win a
title in 2001 despite appearing in the final at Sydney and Scottsdale.
Meanwhile, Rusedski was playing in LA for the first time
since 1995, but dismissed Srichaphan, who was a recent quarter-finalist
at Queen's last month, with confidence.
Tuesday’s line-up for day two of the 75th
Mercedes-Benz Cup, is even more impressive, as Andre Agassi, Pete
Sampras, Jan-Michael Gambill, Tommy Haas and Marat Safin step onto the
hard courts.
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the day is between
no. 2 seed Marat Safin and teen prodigy Andy Roddick.
The young American’s rapid rise on the circuit has
been closely followed. Last year he was an unknown, resting at no. 639
on the ESP, but now he finds himself among the Top 40 in the world after
proving that he has the ability to play men at the top.
However, Safin, the reigning US Open champion, should be
able to return everything that the 18-year-old fires at him.
Meanwhile Sampras, who was Mercedes-Benz champion in
1999 and 1991, will also be searching for a place in the final, having
not claimed a title since Wimbledon 2000.
The fourth seed begins his bid to win a third
Mercedes-Benz Cup against fellow countryman Chris Woodruff. They have
met four times before, where the score lies at 3-1 to Sampras.
The no.8 seed, Tommy
Haas, takes on Korean No. 1
Hyung-Taik Lee on Stadium Court, while local resident Michael Joyce will
meet no. 5 seed Jan-Michael Gambill. The 24-year-old Gambill, will be
eager to pursue a place in the final after his retirement last year
enabled Chang to take the title.
