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Hewitt, Ferrero shine but two top seeds slip out
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Updated: 2002-04-25 10:41
World number one Lleyton Hewitt recorded his first victory of the clay-court season on Wednesday, seeing off a spirited challenge from Marc Lopez to win 7-6 6-2 and move into the third round of the Barcelona Open.
Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, seeded three, also made a sure-footed start with a 6-4 6-3 win over Argentine Jose Acasuso but there were two upsets as the second and fourth seeds slipped out.
Russian second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, like Hewitt beaten in the first round at Monte Carlo last week, lost 7-6 6-2 to Italian qualifier Stefano Galvani.
He was followed out of the million-dollar tournament by Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, beaten 6-4 6-3 by Dominik Hrbaty.
The fourth-seeded Grosjean beat Hrbaty on his way to the semifinals at Monte Carlo, but the Slovak player gained his revenge on a chilly Barcelona evening.
Grosjean has now played four times in Barcelona but has yet to win a match.
Hewitt's victory over Lopez came despite an unconvincing start, as the Catalan teenager stayed with the Australian throughout the first set and then took a 6-2 lead in the tie-break.
Lopez's inexperience showed, however, as a string of unforced errors allowed Hewitt back into the game.
The US Open champion reeled off six points to take the tie-break 8-6 and he raced into a 3-0 lead in the second, breaking again in game eight to complete victory in one hour 49 minutes.
"I still think I'm playing patchy," Hewitt complained after the game. "I've been grinding it out in practice but I'm not there yet."
While Hewitt enjoys some top level match practice ahead of the French Open, Kafelnikov was left scratching around against Galvani.
Kafelnikov, who as one of the top eight seeds received a bye through the first round, lost the first set to Galvani 7-3 on the tie-break as he struggled to adjust to the slow surface.
"It's not fun losing matches like that," said Kafelnikov, who has fallen at the first hurdle on his last three appearances at Barcelona.
Kafelnikov recovered to break his opponent in the opening game of the second set but Galvani's meaty hitting helped him level immediately and he went on to win in 79 minutes.
MOYA IMPRESSES
The other seeds in action on the red clay of the Catalan capital had more success.
Number 12 seed Carlos Moya turned in the pick of the morning's performances, dominating the Italian Andrea Gaudenzi throughout the match on his way to a 6-3 6-3 success.
"The scoreline makes it look easy but in fact I had some problems," said Moya, last year's beaten finalist.
Nicolas Lapentti, the ninth seed from Ecuador, missed two match points in the second set against Didac Perez of Spain but eventually came through to take a marathon match 6-4 6-7 7-5.
Sixth seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco had his path to the third round eased as Argentine Agustin Calleri was forced to retire at a set and 3-0 down with what looked to be a knee problem.
Albert Costa, seeded 15th, won the battle of the former champions, beating Felix Mantilla 6-3 5-7 6-4, while 16th seed David Nalbandian held firm to beat Irakli Labadze 7-5 7-5 and set up a third round meeting with Hewitt.
Number five seed Guillermo Canas recovered from a shaky start to beat Sergi Bruguera 5-7 6-3 6-3 and gain revenge for his defeat to the twice former French Open champion in this event last year.
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